"Hynes came back to England to be by the bedside of his mother in hospital, and stayed at home a while after she died in 2023. This tragic disruptionproduced his fifth full-length release, Essex Honey, a clear contender for album of the year. It's a record grounded by grief but fizzing with the memory flashes that came with returning home to the edge of Essex; the record that sounds most like the place he left almost two decades ago."
"and was sought as a songwriter by Solange, Mariah Carey, Carly Rae Jepsen and more. Fields, a classical collaboration with Third Coast Percussion, was Grammy-nominated in 2021. But Essex Honey exists at a slight remove to everything that came before it: it is full of wide, ambient vistas that segue from mournful to sublime like an estuary sky, as the lyrics contemplate death, youth and the restorative effects of the English countryside."
Devonte Hynes returned from Brooklyn to his childhood home in Ilford at 37 when his mother fell ill, and remained after her death in 2023. The experience inspired Essex Honey, his fifth full-length release. The record is grounded in grief while capturing memory flashes tied to returning to the edge of Essex. The sound revisits the place he left almost two decades earlier through wide, ambient vistas that move from mournful to sublime. Hynes's career spans dance-punk with Test Icicles, indie-pop as Lightspeed Champion, groove-led R&B as Blood Orange, songwriting for high-profile artists, and a Grammy-nominated classical collaboration. The album includes a guest appearance by Lorde and precedes a tour.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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