Blood Orange – You’re Not Good Enough
SoundCloud
Dev Hynes’ musical arc has been a gradual one, but it’s become pretty broad in its scale along the way. He crash landed with the nu-rave, noise punk outfit Test Icicles back in 2004. Since then, he’s taken on the form of indie troubadour Lightspeed Champion, become a bonafide producer for the likes of Solange Knowles, and now, under his latest moniker Blood Orange, he’s showing a more affable and appealing side.
I must admit I’ve been a little back and forth on where I stand on Cupid Deluxe. On one hand, there’s a nice sized collection of sweet, melancholic and affectionate sounds scattered across the record that dazzle. The way which these elements are pieced together, though, lacks imagination and leaves little to desire. The sophomore record from Blood Orange is a lot more stylized and is certainly more in tune with his recent production. With full of lo-fi glowing synth patterns, gentle percussion, and unfurling top layers of breezy ambience, Cupid Deluxe is an unashamed love letter to syrupy 80s pop and funk. The very template it occupies sketches out some nice grooves and sparkling synth leads, but the vast majority of the record plays out in a linear, one-dimensional fashion.
There’s no real progression to the album as a whole or within individual tracks, and the melodies spun within the latter are a little anemic and, dare I say, repetitive. Hynes’ breathy attempts at heartbroken but sensual singing don’t really work in the records favor, either. The vocals on Cupid Deluxe often work much better when Hynes is joined by a guest or hands over the reigns, leaving me to wonder if Hynes is better suited to produce music of this ilk for other people.
There is color and charm to be found in what Cupid Deluxe delivers, and if you stick with it you’ll be able to pick out a number of highlights. Still, I can’t help but see the record in its entirety as a struggling disappointment. There’s no crunch, no core and no bite to be found, and what starts off with potential drifts in and out of a somewhat vapored state. I’m a fan of the obvious influences that Blood Orange has drawn from, but in order to reach the heights of those inspirations, he’s going to have to strengthen his structure, expand his scope and seriously amplify the personality of what he’s doing with this current project.
