“Falling, falling, got carried away, living in my head, photo fantasy, save it on my phone,” Dev Hynes of Blood Orange shares his depiction of songwriting and the easy delusion and idealistic tendencies associated with living inside one’s own mind in his new single “Jesus Freak Lighter” from his newly announced EP Four Songs, set to release on September 16. With a title that accurately reflects Blood Orange’s vision for the EP, this album “surprisingly” only features four songs (tracklist listed below), all songs encompassing Blood Orange’s renowned ethereal synths and enchanting guitar chords whose repetitiveness comforts the listener and sucks them into a world, a fantasy, dictated and constructed by Dev Hynes himself.
Comments on the newly released visualizer video for “Jesus Freak Lighter,” in which Dev Hynes of Blood Orange is seen playing the guitar in his living room encompassed by throbbing red lights, highlight Blood Orange’s capacity to allow the listeners to ruminate in an atmosphere of comfortability and nostalgia with lyrics that captivate and a “voice [that] just ascends you to the clouds” (Iyi Awosanya). Underneath the same video, Himiyo also capitalizes on this notion and praises Dev Hynes when they say “Whatever music you release it always seems I’m always in the right place in my life to hear it.”
Blood Orange is currently performing as the opening act for Harry Styles at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY from 9/8 to 9/22. With a reputation backed by Harry Styles along with multiple awards of acclaim for Hynes’ work in classical performance and movie soundtracks for films such as Rebecca Hall’s Passing and tv series such as We Are Who We Are on HBO, Dev Hynes of Blood Orange truly has a musical career in the making, and seems to be destined for continual greatness.
Four Songs track listing:
Jesus Freak Lighter
Something You Know
Wish
Relax & Run
Check out this article to hear more about Dev Hynes’ work on the movie Passing.
To hear more about Dev’ Hynes’ musical career, read this article detailing his 2021 collaboration with the band Turnstile on their latest LP “Alien Love Call.”
Photo Credit: Sharon Alagna