Written by Alyssa Lindamood
Essex Honey by Blood Orange. This entire album has a night drive aura. Every song has a touch of dissociation within it and has a somber tone that is easy to listen to. There are a lot of quiet instruments that I could imagine playing in the background of a movie, some that were used were the cello, light drums, and a lot of smooth synth. Blood Orange will always use synth but in this album specifically, especially songs like Vivid Light and Somewhere in Between use synth in a very mellow and strategic way. Devonte Hynes and Caroline Polachek have the perfect combination for vocals, my favorite song they collaborated on was mind loaded.
I feel that the work behind this album being that Devonte Hynes wrote and produced it, sounds like his synesthesia led the way of how most of the songs sound. Instruments and digital synthesizers were loosely tied together but had such an unexpected coming together and making sense to my brain.
Hearing the music from this album live was incredible and I was surprised at how much Essex Honey actually does sound similar to previous albums. When I heard it the first time I thought maybe it sounded darker or lower-toned. Overall, Essex Honey holds a special place in my heart and I’ve loved playing a couple songs throughout this spring
semester.