ACL Artist Spotlight: Blood Orange

With his most recent release Negro Swan, Blood Orange (also known as Dev Hynes) has been making moves in the alternative scene, playing at high end festivals, and stunting boldly for the Gram. 

Blood Orange is a project launched by Dev Hynes, a British singer, songwriter, producer, and director. Defined as everything from indie rock, to soul/hip-hop, to New Wave, it’s hard to put Blood Orange into a genre. Regardless, his sound captures an urban, underground, new-age scene, while also having a mature and retro feel to it. With his third, and what would become most popular album, Cupid Deluxe, he began gaining a wider fan base across the UK and New York City. With this increased attention to his work, Hynes also started diving into songwriting, producing, and directing. He has worked with a variety of artists, from Solange to Carly Rae Jepsen, helping to create some of our favorite songs/music videos today. While developing his artistry and expanding his musical skills, he also produced and recorded his next album, Freetown Sound, which was released in 2016. The album gained attention for its political undertones, including recordings from the streets of NYC and samples from authors and poets like Ta-Nehisi Coates and Ashley Haze. Finally, with his most recent release, Negro Swan, Blood Orange is turning heads once again. Negro Swan definitely flaunts Hynes’ experience and ability to produce quality albums, time and time again. It also shows his continued growth and evolution as an artist, with his unique style and persona lasting, but slightly changing with each new piece he puts out.

Blood Orange will be joining the stacked ACL lineup this year, alongside others like Travis Scott, St. Vincent, Odesza, and more. You won’t want to miss Blood Orange’s bold stage presence and melodic music at ACL. Click here to buy tickets, and click here to check out Blood Orange on Soundcloud.

You can also check out Coog Radio’s review of Negro Swan here!