hope sonified (blood orange’s negro swan)

Some of my favorite albums are the ones with a strong narrative and thematic focus. There’s a sort of gravitational force to those works that pulls me in and gives me a sense of fulfillment from hearing a complete, seamless story told through the moving medium of music. Along with a stellar composition, Blood Orange’s Negro Swan fully encapsulates what it means to be an album with an incredible narrative. The album feels whole in a way that is unique– it’s as if the album is a supernova with loving warmth emanating from its center. It is truly a masterful work of art.

The artist Blood Orange is actually the alias of the British musician Dev Hynes who has had a prolific career in the music industry up to this point. In his late teens, Hynes was part of a short-lived punk band called Test Icicles with some of his friends. After their eventual split, Hynes worked under the moniker of Lightspeed Champion– which worked in the indie rock genre– for a while until he decided to focus on another project of his: Blood Orange. This new alias would be more heavily based on the genre of R&B and electronica. Beginning with his debut album Coastal Grooves in 2011, Hynes as Blood Orange immediately showcased his innovative style and variety of influences. This was followed by Cupid Deluxe in 2013, then Freetown Sound in 2016, and finally Negro Swan in 2018.

The album itself has a unique perspective which is first heard in its sound and composition. Structured by the narration of writer, director, and transgender rights activist Janet Mock on tracks 1, 5, 6, 11, and 13, this spoken part throughout the album helps to hone the album in on the themes of fitting in, the idea of family, and the overall Black, queer experience. This addition, along with the album’s various features and vocal stylings, gives the work a comprehensive feeling that helps to convey the idea of community that its subject matter emphasizes. The narration also adds an element of warmth and levity to the tracks. It infuses hope. For people in the intended communities, it’s like coming home to your family and feeling the warm embrace of their love, their laughter, and their presence. As for the sound of the album itself, it is based heavily on bedroom pop, hip-hop soul, and R&B while also incorporating elements of many other genres such as funk, post-punk, jazz, and more. These different influences work and mesh together to create a sort of heavenly, ethereal sound that feels transcendent. It is this unique and powerful sound that made me fall in love with the songs before I learned the lyrics and the meaning behind them. There is also a church/ gospel influence that can be heard throughout in the vocal layering (“stacking” multiple vocal recordings on top of each other) that Hynes utilizes to create this expansive aura which aids in the sort of heavenly sound that results from his genius production. After listening to this album numerous times in the past few years though, I think that it sounds the most like hope sonified.

After the album has drawn the listener in with its beautiful sound and composition, one can truly begin to appreciate the meaning of its lyrics. The album’s gravitational center resides in the honest portrayal of the Black, queer experience. While it stems from Hynes’ own perspective growing up in Ilford, East London in the ‘80s and ‘90s, there is beauty, pain, and hope in lyrics that many can relate to and have experienced. Specifically, Hynes notes that a large part of the experience growing up Black and queer was the idea of fitting in and feeling normal. This idea is highlighted in the album’s lead single ‘Charcoal Baby’, where Hynes repeats the phrase “No one wants to be the odd one out at times (No one wants to be, yeah)/ No one wants to be the negro swan (Swan)” (2). From this comes the album’s title and provides one of the central themes that the album plays with throughout. The idea of feeling like the outcast of your family, school, and/ or community is something that, unfortunately, many Black and queer people may experience growing up. Society has had a long history of shunning those who were too different from the established “normalities” of the time. This isolating experience is all too common for queer people and Black people, and thus, to be both can be an incredibly difficult and isolating journey. The album encapsulates the many feelings that are associated with this lived experience ranging from frustration and melancholy to joy, hope, and love.

Additionally, the album’s name and the lyric in ‘Charcoal Baby’ incorporates a play-on-words of the common phrase “black swan” by replacing the “black” with “negro”. Someone who is a “black swan” is regarded as incredibly rare, which ties into the album’s focus on fitting in and feeling like an outcast. It shifts the perspective of what it means to be different in society, which is typically seen as unusual and unfavored, and reframes it in a positive light as being this rare and unique person. Then by replacing the “black” with “negro”, Hynes hones in on the specific experience of Black, queer individuals. This simple phrase that rightfully serves as the album’s title fully summarizes Hynes’ intent: to reach those who went through this experience and let them know that their differences should be celebrated and loved instead of pushed down as society suggests. One way to reach this point of acceptance and self-love that Hynes highlights is the idea of community and (chosen) family. Specifically and explicitly in the song ‘Family’, writer Mock speaks the entirety of the song on what her idea of family is, and she says, “I think of family as community/ I think of the spaces where you don’t have to shrink yourself/ Where you don’t have to pretend or to perform/ You can fully show up and be vulnerable/ …/ So we get to choose our families/ We are not limited by biology/ We get to make ourselves/ And we get to make our families” (1). It is important to note that this song deliberately comes before ‘Charcoal Baby” and serves as an introduction to the lead single. Hynes does so to remind his audience again that to be Black and queer is to be unique, and beautiful, and should be celebrated in spaces where you do not have to “shrink yourself” as Mock puts it. This idea is also iterated in the song ‘Out of Your League’ as Hynes sings explicitly, “Follow me under and never to be too unique” (3).

Through these reminders, Hynes creates a sense of hope and a metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel for his listeners that may be experiencing a turmoil that many others have lived through and still are living through. Through his masterful lyricism, Hynes throws a lifeboat for his listeners to hold onto and steady themselves on. This album serves as a refuge for listeners as they’re “waiting for the smoke to clear” (4). Speaking about the album in a press release, Hynes tells us that “The underlying thread through each piece on the album is the idea of HOPE, and the lights we can try to turn on within ourselves with a hopefully positive outcome of helping others out of their darkness” (5). From his sincerity comes a sense of intimacy that draws listeners in as if embracing, and that is exactly what the album feels like to me: it’s like the warmth of a hug from a loved one who pulls you in and tells you that despite your pain, you will be okay and be loved.

The album is truly a magical experience that I would recommend to anyone. From its dreamy sound and composition to its beautiful lyrics, Negro Swan is one of my perfect albums. Some of my favorite songs on the album include ‘Orlando’, ‘Hope’, ‘Charcoal Baby’, ‘Dagenham Dream’, and ‘Smoke’. I listen and re-listen to this work of art constantly, and every time, I fall in love with it more and more.

While I consider this album to be some of Hynes’ best work, he has proven himself capable of continually growing and expanding. He has shown his talent and ingenuity as an artist as well as his lyrical and production capabilities on his own projects and others– Hynes has written and produced for many other artists such as A$AP Rocky, Carly Rae Jepsen, Kylie Minogue, Mac Miller, Mariah Carey, Tinashe, and Solange Knowles. Since the release of Negro Swan, he has released various singles along with the EP (Extended Play) ‘Angel’s Pulse’ in 2019 and the recent release of his new EP ‘Four Songs’ on September 16 of 2022. Hynes is truly a creative force of nature and is sure to bring about new works that push boundaries in music.

kevin tian

hope sonified (blood orange’s negro swan)

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