Blood Orange

Blood Orange

Blood Orange is the stage name of Devonté Hynes, a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, composer and director who is based in New York City. He is born David Joseph Michael Hynes on 23 December 1985 in Ilford, East London, and is English by background. The name Blood Orange appears as his solo project from 2011, while he is also associated with KING MUSIC.

Career

Before using the Blood Orange name, Hynes plays in the pre-punk and dance-punk group Test Icicles between 2004 and 2006. He then records two orchestral and folk-pop albums as Lightspeed Champion from 2007 to 2009. Under Blood Orange, his first album is Coastal Grooves in 2011, followed by Cupid Deluxe in 2013, Freetown Sound in 2016, Negro Swan in 2018 and the mixtape Angel's Pulse in 2019. His later releases include Four Songs in 2022 and Essex Honey in 2025.

Style and themes

Blood Orange is known for music that crosses indie pop, funk, alternative R&B, electronic, jazz and synth-pop, and is often described as genre-defying. The lyrics frequently address identity, gender fluidity, race, marginalisation, vulnerability, trauma and self-acceptance. He is associated with chillwave, indie, R&B, alternative R&B and indie pop.

Composition, scoring and collaboration

Hynes also writes for film, theatre and other projects. His credits include the film Palo Alto in 2013, Queen & Slim in 2020, Master Gardener in 2023, and the Broadway production Job in 2024, as well as We Are Who We Are. He has also scored classical compositions such as Fields.

As a writer and producer, he works with artists including Solange, Carly Rae Jepsen, Sky Ferreira, FKA Twigs, Mariah Carey and Blondie. He also performs alongside Philip Glass, and collaborates with Lorde and Turnstile.

Recognition

Blood Orange receives Grammy nominations for his work, including in relation to his scoring and classical composition work.