The fourth
Blood Orange album begins with a temperate rolling groove suited perfectly for
Dev Hynes' gentle falsetto. Just as the song starts to resemble something akin to
Stevie Wonder's "Power Flower" as an imagined
Smokey Robinson collaboration, its refrain of "First kiss was the floor," delivered with deceptively wistful style, tugs the attentive listener into
Hynes' marginalized and antagonized existence as a black male with characteristics perceived as non-masculine. A more severe attack is referenced later in "Dagenham Dream." The song's gauzy and isolated qualities are disrupted with sounds of passing sirens as
Hynes recalls being hospitalized, concealing himself in response, and achieving blissful escape on his skateboard. These are the most graphic moments on
Negro Swan, an album that otherwise is less autobiographical, with feelings of instability, comfort, optimism, self-fulfillment, and pride articulated from track to track.
Negro Swan sonically is as fluid as it is fragmented, synthesizing and bounding between bedsit post-punk, desolate dream pop, chillwave-coated quiet storm, and low-profile hip-hop soul. Via a
Clark Sisters interpolation featuring piercing praise from
Ian Isiah, it even dips into gospel (if rendered with
Twinkie's organ replaced with some decidedly less fervent synthesizer). Though tracks change direction and are stylistically variable -- even the one-minute interlude "Vulture Baby" evokes tranquil
Blackbyrds and ghostly
Pink Floyd -- the sequencing is well-paced, jarring only when the moody
Project Pat and
A$AP Rocky collaboration "Chewing Gum" purposefully grinds to a halt to make way for the church scene. Transitions elsewhere are eased by portions of a discussion with author and trans advocate
Janet Mock, who provides words of inspiration and hope. This qualifies as
Hynes' most inward work, but it's a product of considerable interaction, whether the singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist is handing off ideas to
Diddy on the
Connected-era
Foreign Exchange-like "Hope," trading primary instruments with
the Internet's
Steve Lacy on the swirling "Out of Your League," or leaving enough room on each track for up to to four additional voices, including
Kelsey Lu,
Amandla Stenberg, and
Adam Bainbridge. The most touching matchup occurs on "Runnin'."
Georgia Anne Muldrow's support reaches beyond creative to emotional, alleviating
Hynes' anxiety and loneliness with lines like "You and your soul are never not one" and "Just hold onto your mighty way of bein'." As
Muldrow finishes with a chuckle, it's not hard to picture
Hynes falling into her arms. ~ Andy Kellman
![K-12 [Blue/Gray Marble Marble Vinyl] [Barnes & Noble Exclusive]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0075678612633_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "K-12 [Blue/Gray Marble Marble Vinyl] [Barnes & Noble Exclusive]")
![Cry Baby Deluxe [Translucent Pink Marble Vinyl] [Barnes & Noble Exclusive]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0075678612619_p0_v3_s90x140.jpg "Cry Baby Deluxe [Translucent Pink Marble Vinyl] [Barnes & Noble Exclusive]")
![OK Computer: OKNOTOK 1997 2017 [2 LP]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0634904086817_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "OK Computer: OKNOTOK 1997 2017 [2 LP]")
![When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? [Yellow Vinyl]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0602577427664_p0_v4_s90x140.jpg "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? [Yellow Vinyl]")
![Give Up [Blue with Metallic Silver Vinyl]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0098787059557_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Give Up [Blue with Metallic Silver Vinyl]")
![Hurry Up, We're Dreaming [LP]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0724596951019_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming [LP]")
![The Bones of What You Believe [LP]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0810599020361_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "The Bones of What You Believe [LP]")
![Oracular Spectacular [LP]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0888430453210_p0_v3_s90x140.jpg "Oracular Spectacular [LP]")
