Harper's BAZAAR January/February 2014
Producer, artist, composer, multi-instrumentalist, general man about town, 27-year-old Brit Devonté Hynes is a wearer of many masks. While his name may not be familiar, chances are you know him already. Maybe you first encountered his geek-folk project Lightspeed Champion on MySpace back in 2007. Or earlier as the frontman to Bloc Party-esque club rock group Test Icicles. No? What about as the androgynous-sounding and Prince-like Blood Orange?
Hynes gets around: he’s written tracks for The Chemical Brothers, Basement Jaxx and Florence + the Machine, served as a fashion consultant for Jay-Z’s label, Rocawear, is a regular fixture on Alexa Chung’s Instagram, and has just been enlisted to write the score for Gia Coppola’s feature film Palo Alto, an adaptation of James Franco’s book of the same name. The point is, with every project, he seems to sit alongside the cultural zeitgeist, tapping in and out at just the right time, never hitting saturation point.
Take his most recent collaborations, for example: he’s known as the Midas-touch wizard behind the curtain for Solange Knowles, credited with rebirthing girl group the Sugababes (now known as Mutya Keisha Siobhan) and penning Sky Ferreira’s melancholic jam Everything is Embarrassing — three of the most buzzed-about acts in both the fashion and music world of the past year. It’s easy to see why this New York local’s signature nonchalant blend of R’n’B and pop is in such high demand. Just a few weeks ago, Hynes dropped his latest offering, Cupid Deluxe, his second album under solo moniker Blood Orange. The record sees him extend the iridescent soft-focus sound he’s been developing as a producer into his solo work, and is his most impressive release yet (a must-listen for fans of Solange and Vampire Weekend). “The past few years are the first time where I’ve been really busy with other people’s projects, not really thinking about another album,” he says. “I’m always writing, so I had all these ideas and songs I’d written.” He adds, laughing: “I get my own leftovers usually. If it’s too stupid an idea, I’ll keep it for myself; I don’t want to make a fool of other people.”
For the project, Hynes recruited musician pals David Longstreth from Dirty Projectors, Chairlift’s Caroline Polachek, Samantha Urbani from Friends, Adam Bainbridge, a.k.a. electronic artist Kindness, and more — and they’ve never sounded so sexy or soulful. “I’m really attracted to the idea of albums that are more ‘projects’ than bands,” he says. “Like Basement Jaxx and Massive Attack — it’s kind of a ’90s English mentality, where producers make albums and don’t necessarily view themselves as a vocal presence on it.”
It’s true that Hynes doesn’t sing on every track, but his presence is definitely felt. Cupid Deluxe features many autobiographical nods from Hynes, from his African heritage to emotive and sensual lyrics from his personal life, and, of course, glimpses of his crate-digging and genre-hopping past.
Where to from here? For this constantly evolving enigma, the possibilities are endless. “I think people get trapped with capability,” he says, “Life is short, man — it’s like, ‘Why not?’ It’s crazy to me that people don’t try everything in the world.”
Cupid Deluxe is out now on Domino Records.