Freetown Sound

Freetown Sound is the third album by Dev Hynes recording as Blood Orange.[2] It was released on 28 June 2016, three days before its originally announced release date of 1 July 2016.[3] The album contains guest appearances by Empress Of, Debbie Harry, Nelly Furtado, Kelsey Lu and Carly Rae Jepsen. The album cover is a 2009 photograph titled Binky and Tony Forever by American artist Deana Lawson.

Freetown Sound
Studio album by
Blood Orange
Released28 June 2016 (2016-06-28)
Recorded2014–16
Genre
Length58:40
LabelDomino
Producer
Blood Orange chronology
Cupid Deluxe
(2013)		 Freetown Sound
(2016)		 Negro Swan
(2018)
Singles from Freetown Sound
  1. "Hadron Collider"
    Released: 11 January 2016[1]

Production

Freetown Sound takes its name from Freetown, Sierra Leone, where Hynes' father was born. The album features Carly Rae Jepsen, Zuri Marley, Debbie Harry, Nelly Furtado, writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, slam poet Ashlee Haze, and others.[3][4] When he first announced the album's release on Instagram, Hynes wrote that the album was intended for those who had been told they were "not black enough, too black, too queer, not queer the right way."[4]

Promotion

The track "Hadron Collider", featuring Nelly Furtado, was released only as a cassette tape on 12 December 2015, and sold exclusively at his shows at the Apollo Theater in New York City. A music video for "Augustine" was released on 28 June 2016, accompanying the release of the album. A video for "I Know" was released on 28 October 2016, followed by a video for "Better Than Me", featuring Carly Rae Jepsen, on 16 December 2016. On 24 March 2017, a music video/short film for the tracks "With Him", "Best to You", and "Better Numb" was released exclusively on the music streaming service TIDAL. The video also features Empress Of, appearing on behalf of her vocals on "Best to You".

Composition

Freetown Sound has been seen as a "deep" avant-pop work, as well as pulling in funk and 80s R&B sounds.[5][6] It also works gospel, quiet storm's "subtle bluster", soca and soul into its mix.[2][7]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.7/10[8]
Metacritic82/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
The A.V. ClubA[7]
The Guardian[11]
The Independent[12]
NME4/5[13]
Pitchfork8.8/10[6]
Q[14]
Rolling Stone[5]
Spin8/10[2]
Vice (Expert Witness)A−[15]

The album was released to high critical acclaim and positive reviews. Writing for Exclaim!, Stephen Carlick praised the album, calling it "Hynes at his best, mixing his best songwriting and production yet to powerful, purposeful effect."[16]

The album was shortlisted by IMPALA (The Independent Music Companies Association) for the Album of the Year Award 2016, which rewards on a yearly basis the best album released on an independent European label.[17]

Accolades
Publication Accolade Year Rank Ref.
Consequence of Sound Top 50 Albums of 2016 2016
14
[18]
The Guardian The Best Albums of 2016 2016
23
[19]
Paste The 50 Best Albums of 2016 2016
18
[20]
The Quietus Albums of the Year 2016 2016
31
[21]
The Skinny Top 50 Albums of 2016 2016
16
[22]
Noisey The Best 100 Albums of 2016 2016
16
[23]
Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 2016 2016
14
[24]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."By Ourselves"
2:12
2."Augustine"Hynes3:51
3."Chance"Hynes2:49
4."Best to You"
3:46
5."With Him"
  • Hynes
  • Beatriz De Rijke
1:25
6."E.V.P."
5:44
7."Love Ya"Eddy Grant2:48
8."But You"Hynes3:01
9."Desirée"
3:01
10."Hands Up"Hynes4:09
11."Hadron Collider"
3:44
12."Squash Squash"
  • Hynes
  • Beatriz De Rijke
3:37
13."Juicy 1–4"Hynes4:36
14."Better Than Me"Hynes3:17
15."Thank You"
3:04
16."I Know"Hynes4:35
17."Better Numb"Hynes3:01
Japanese edition[25]
No.TitleLength
18."St. Marcus"2:22

Sample credits

  • "By Ourselves" contains samples from "Myself When I Am Real" written by Charles Mingus and the poem "For Colored Women" by Ashlee Haze.
  • "E.V.P" contains samples from "Chief Inspector" written by Wally Badarou from his "Echoes" album.
  • "Love Ya" contains samples from an interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates.
  • "Desirée" contains samples from the 1990 documentary film Paris Is Burning.
  • "Hands Up" contains samples from an interview with Vince Staples.
  • "Thank You" contains samples from "Stakes Is High" by De La Soul.

Personnel
  • Devonte Hynes – vocals (tracks 1–14, 16, 17), keyboards (tracks 1, 4–10), piano (tracks 7, 8, 11–16), bass (tracks 2–4, 6, 8–16), drums (tracks 2, 4, 6–8, 10–16), synths (tracks 2, 3, 11–14, 16), drum machine (tracks 2, 4, 11–14, 16), guitar (tracks 2, 6, 8, 10, 14, 16), cello (tracks 1, 4, 6, 11, 12), drum programming (tracks 3, 6, 8), scratching (3, 6, 12), percussion (track 9), vox (track 15), EWI (track 15), Juno (track 17); arrangement (track 7), vocal arrangements (track 11); production, engineering (tracks 1–8, 10–17), mixing (track 9); booklet photos
  • Jason Arce – saxophone (tracks 1, 3, 5–7, 15); saxophone arrangements (tracks 1, 7)
  • Adam Bainbridge – drums, sampling (track 15) production (track 15); end arrangement (track 1)
  • BEA1991 – vocals (tracks 5, 6, 12)
  • Mikaelin 'Blue' Bluespruce – additional vocal engineering (tracks 1–4, 8, 10, 14), mixing (tracks 1–8, 10–17)
  • Dave Cooley – additional live engineering (tracks 6, 13)
  • Matthew Cooper – design
  • Bryndon Cook – vocals (tracks 8, 10, 14)
  • Christopher Egan – drums (tracks 6, 13)
  • David Ginyard – bass (tracks 6, 13)
  • Debbie Harry – vocals (track 6)
  • Nick Harwood – booklet photo
  • Nelly Furtado – vocals (track 11); vocal arrangements (track 11)
  • Ian Isiah – vocals (tracks 1, 2)
  • Joseph of Mercury – vocal arrangements (track 11)
  • John Carroll Kirby – keyboards (tracks 6, 13)
  • Caleb Laven – additional engineering (tracks 4, 6, 16)
  • Kelsey Lu – vocals (track 3); organisation of tracks idea (track 17)
  • Aaron Maine – third chord suggestion in hook (track 2); acoustic guitar (track 17)
  • Benjamin Morsberger – guitar (track 6)
  • Zuri Marley – vocals (track 7)
  • Carly Rae Jepsen – vocals (track 14)
  • Ava Raiin – vocals (tracks 1, 2, 13, 15)
  • Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson – engineering (track 9)
  • Lorely Rodriguez – vocals (track 4)
  • Paul J Street – design
  • Patrick Wimberly – drums, percussion, bass (track 9); production (track 9)

Charts
Chart (2016) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[26] 78
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[27] 125
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[28] 81
New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ)[29] 10
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[30] 23
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[31] 88
UK Albums (OCC)[32] 154
US Billboard 200[33] 159
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[34] 10

References
  1. "Nelly Furtado está de volta em parceria com o Blood Orange; ouça "Hadron Collider"". Papel Pop. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  2. Joyce, Colin (27 June 2016). "Review: Blood Orange Is Fired Up and Ready to Go on 'Freetown Sound'". Spin. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  3. Chris Payne, "Blood Orange Releases New Album 'Freetown Sound' Three Days Early: Listen", Billboard, 28 June 2016.
  4. Hua Hsu, "Blood Orange and the Sound of Identity," The New Yorker, 4 July 2016.
  5. Hermes, Will (28 June 2016). "Freetown Sound". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  6. Moore, Marcus J. (1 July 2016). "Blood Orange: Freetown Sound". Pitchfork. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  7. Sahim, Sarah (1 July 2016). "Blood Orange struggles to find a sense of belonging on Freetown Sound". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  8. "Freetown Sound by Blood Orange reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  9. "Reviews for Freetown Sound by Blood Orange". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  10. Martin, Liam. "Freetown Sound – Blood Orange". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  11. Petridis, Alexis (23 June 2016). "Blood Orange: Freetown Sound review – a pop changeling's pell-mell scrapbook". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  12. Gill, Andy (29 June 2016). "Album reviews: Blood Orange – Freetown Sound; Metronomy – Summer 08 + more". The Independent. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  13. Nicolson, Barry (29 June 2016). "Blood Orange – 'Freetown Sound' Review". NME. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  14. Oldham, James (September 2016). "Blood Orange: Freetown Sound". Q (363): 102.
  15. Christgau, Robert (16 September 2016). "Frank Ocean's Candidness and the Ambitious Blood Orange: Expert Witness with Robert Christgau". Vice. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  16. Carlick, Stephen (28 June 2016). "Blood Orange – Freetown Sound". Exclaim!. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  17. "25 artists up for best independent album of the year in Europe". IMPALA. Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  18. "Top 50 Albums of 2016". Consequence of Sound. 28 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  19. "The Best Albums of 2016: 40–31". The Guardian. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  20. "The 50 Best Albums of 2016". Paste. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  21. "The Quietus Albums of the Year 2016". The Quietus. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  22. "Top 50 Albums of 2016". The Skinny. 1 December 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  23. "The Best 100 Albums of 2016". Noisey.com. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  24. "The 50 Best Albums of 2016". Pitchfork. 13 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  25. "Freetown Sound By Blood Orange". Japan. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  26. "Ultratop.be – Blood Orange – Freetown Sound" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  27. "Ultratop.be – Blood Orange – Freetown Sound" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  28. "Offiziellecharts.de – Blood Orange – Freetown Sound" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  29. "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  30. "VG-lista – Topp 40 Album uke 29, 2016". VG-lista. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  31. "Swisscharts.com – Blood Orange – Freetown Sound". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  32. Chart Log UK: "CLUK Update 9 July 2016 (wk27)". UK Albums Chart. Zobbel.de. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  33. "Blood Orange Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  34. "Blood Orange Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
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