7
Thursday, July 7, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com ARTS
Blood Orange’s latest
a sharp commentary
MUSIC REVIEW
“Freetown Sound” is a
mix of eclectic sounds
and messages
By SAM ROSENBERG
Daily Arts Writer
30-year-old British multi-instru-
mentalist Dev Hynes may not be the
most well-known musician, but his
status as a sing-
er, songwriter
and producer
makes him one
of the most
talented hidden
gems working
in the industry
today. From
playing for
2000s dance-
punk band Test Icicles to going
solo under the moniker Lightspeed
Champion (now changed to Blood
Orange), Hynes has written and
produced songs for Sky Ferreira,
Carly Rae Jepsen, Solange Knowles,
FKA Twigs and Florence and The
Machine. Other than his expertise
in music production, what makes
Hynes such a skilled musician is
his drive to push against both sonic
and thematic boundaries, making
music that challenges the status
quo. This fearless passion fueled his
acclaimed 2013 sophomore effort
Cupid Deluxe and his newest album
as Blood Orange, Freetown Sound,
propels Hynes even further into
groundbreaking territory.
Like other great concept albums,
Freetown Sound is a record as
personally relevant as it is socially
conscious, incorporating both uni-
versality and specificity. On the one
hand, the album’s core influence
stems from Hynes’s connection
to his father, whose hometown of
Freetown, Sierra Leone appears
in the title. But, even more so, the
record is a celebration of difference,
identity and cultural unity, particu-
larly that of Black and queer pride.
According to a recent Instagram
post, Hynes dedicated this album
to “everyone told they’re not Black
enough, too Black, too queer, not
queer the right way.”
While Freetown Sound is cer-
tainly long (its 17 tracks stretch
to about an hour), listening to
the whole album song-by-song
is a gratifying and mesmerizing
experience. Freetown benefits not
only from Hynes’ breathy vocals
and gifted songwriting, but also
from the album’s eclectic fusion
of soul, hip hop, jazz, New Wave,
calypso and pop. Throughout the
record, Hynes successfully imbues
his own worldview into the woozy
rhythms, powerful lyrics and suit-
able samples of each track. Tropical
standouts “Augustine” and “Best
to You” find Hynes channeling dif-
ferent sides of his personality, the
former embracing his African heri-
tage and the latter embracing that of
a lover. “Hands Up” is a catchy yet
unnerving anthem that spotlights
the #BlackLivesMatter movement,
with Hynes recognizing the victim-
ization of young Black kids in the
song’s chorus (“Keep your hood off
when you’re walking ‘cause they
/ Hands up, get up, hands up, get
up”). The song also acts as a com-
panion piece to the slightly superior
“Sandra’s Smile,” a dizzying, synth-
heavy, Sandra Bland-referencing
tune Hynes released back in 2015
as a non-album single. However,
when Hynes isn’t political, he softly
and beautifully sings of unrequited
love, heartbreak and loneliness on
woeful tunes “With Him,” “Squash
Squash” and “Better Than Me.”
In addition to being an album
that encompasses creative expres-
sion, Freetown Sound is an intensely
collaborative record, the majority of
those collaborators being women.
Though the artists helping Hynes
go uncredited, they heighten Free-
town Sound’s already incredible
foundation, as well as highlight the
album’s feminist overtones. The
impressive list includes Blondie lead
singer Debbie Harry on “E.V.P.,”
Zuri Marley on “Love Ya,” Carly
Rae Jepsen on “Better Than Me,”
Nelly Furtado (yes, the Nelly Furta-
do) on “Hadron Collider,” Empress
Of’s Lorely Rodriguez on “Best to
You” and New York-based singer
Ava Raiin providing background
vocals on multiple tracks. Hynes
also samples Atlanta slam poet
Ashlee Haze’s “For Colored Girls”
on the fierce opener “By Ourselves,”
where she praises rapper Missy
Elliott and acknowledges the sig-
nificance of representation of Black
women in the media.
Freetown Sound is to Hynes what
Lemonade is to Beyoncé, To Pimp
a Butterfly is to Kendrick Lamar,
and Black Messiah is to D’Angelo.
The album is not only a compelling,
kaleidoscopic record with personal
and political undertones, but also
a powerfully evocative mosaic of
thought-provoking themes and
messages that blend together almost
effortlessly. Freetown Sound is a
triumph for Hynes, especially as
it effectively conveys the singer/
songwriter’s struggle to find a place
to call his home. He was born in
London and lives in New York City,
but Hynes goes even deeper by illu-
minating his Freetown roots. Just
as important is Hynes’s ability to
speak, write and sing about some of
the most topical issues of today. In
light of ongoing police brutality tar-
geting Black people and the recent
tragic shooting at a gay nightclub in
Orlando, Freetown Sound is not just
a tribute to these oppressed groups,
but also a stark reminder that we
cannot ignore the harsh realities
that surround us every day.
DOMINO
“Insert artsy fartsy quote here.”
‘Love’ this book
By SOPHIA KAUFMAN
Daily Arts Writer
Hardly a week goes by without
an article popping up on Facebook
or Twitter analyzing the current
situation regarding the love lives
— or lack thereof — of millenni-
als.
“They’re
doomed,” the
critics always
seem to sob.
“All they do
now is hook-
up.”
“Romance
is dead” has
become a bat-
tle cry, though
what war we’re fighting is still
unclear. Some blame technology,
some blame party or hookup cul-
ture, some blame feminism — the
list continues, each reason more
ridiculous than the last.
Moira Weigel’s “Labor of Love:
the Invention of Dating” traces the
idea that romance has sputtered
out through history, mapping out
where and how courtship and dat-
ing started and how it has evolved
over time. She reveals how people
have always been worried — dat-
ing has, in fact, died several times.
And people have never not been
preoccupied with marriage; she
concludes her introduction with
a shrewd observation that may
alarm students stressing about the
intersection of careers and rela-
tionships.
“If marriage is the long-term
contract that many daters still hope
to land, dating itself often feels like
the worst, most precarious form
of contemporary labor: an unpaid
internship,” Weigel writes. “You
cannot be sure where things are
heading, but you try to gain experi-
ence. If you look sharp, you might
get a free lunch.”
Weigel’s style is blunt; she lands
her points neatly, the emphasis
always hitting home where it needs
to. Dating customs change as the
economy changes; privacy is a
recent invention; dating has always
seemed to be “work for women and
recreation for men;” beauty is cur-
rency for women; gay bars preced-
ed single bars for straights. “Labor
of Love” is a quick and informative
read that makes it easy for read-
ers to retain the information after
they’ve finished.
Weigel highlights how customs
and traditions that seem routine
and normal to us now would be
shockingly inappropriate in the
past, but it also shows how the
opposite is true. Parents and other
people have always been worried
about the sexual promiscuity of
college kids. Before there was DTR-
ing (defining the relationship),
there was going steady, and, before
there was going steady, there was
calling (the kind without phones).
Before there was hooking up, there
was necking, and, before there was
necking, there was petting.
In other words, teenagers have
always been misbehaving in the
eyes of their elders. Who knew?
Weigel does a fantastic job of
exploring dating and relationships
with a lens towards class differ-
ences, inviting readers to consider
fresh perspectives as to why we
value the institution of marriage
the way we do and to learn about
the myths surrounding women’s
biological clocks.
Her book is sprinkled with
anecdotes that provide insight into
social mores of different times,
which she then fleshes out well
with nuanced analysis.
But the book is lacking in some
significant areas. Weigel dedicates
a substantial amount of time to
online dating, or dating apps, but
never addresses one of the biggest
gender divides regarding meeting
people online: women are much
more likely to be scared that their
date could be a potential rapist or
serial killer. Relatedly, she glosses
over how the pervasiveness and
threat of sexual assault colors the
experiences of women on college
campuses. She also glosses over
many of the social difficulties that
members of the queer community
still face, painting a much sunnier
picture of current realities than
many members of that community
would like.
The conclusion almost com-
pletely negates the validity and
possibility for total satisfaction in
a single life and hints at the impor-
tance of reproduction in all rela-
tionships. This teleological ending
point may feel insulting to those
who don’t feel the need or want to
think about it, for any reason, at any
point in their lives.
“Labor of Love” delivers on its
promise of a fresh and fun — at
times even poignant — perspective
on love, dating, sex, relationships
and marriage and the intersections
of those four.
But as for proof that romance
isn’t dead? Keep looking.
Labor of Love:
The Invention
of Dating
Moira Weigel
Farrar, Straus
and Giroux
A
Freetown
Sound
Blood Orange
Domino
BOOK REVIEW