Freetown Sound | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 28 June 2016 | |||
Recorded | 2014–16 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 58:40 | |||
Label | Domino | |||
Producer | ||||
Blood Orange chronology | ||||
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Singles from Freetown Sound | ||||
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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 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]
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".
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]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.7/10 [8] |
Metacritic | 82/100 [9] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [10] |
The A.V. Club | A [7] |
The Guardian | [11] |
The Independent | [12] |
NME | 4/5 [13] |
Pitchfork | 8.8/10 [6] |
Q | [14] |
Rolling Stone | [5] |
Spin | 8/10 [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]
Publication | Accolade | Year | Rank | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Consequence of Sound | Top 50 Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 14 | |
The Guardian | The Best Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 23 | |
Paste | The 50 Best Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 18 | |
The Quietus | Albums of the Year 2016 | 2016 | 31 | |
The Skinny | Top 50 Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 16 | |
Noisey | The Best 100 Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 16 | |
Pitchfork | The 50 Best Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 14 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "By Ourselves" |
| 2:12 |
2. | "Augustine" | Hynes | 3:51 |
3. | "Chance" | Hynes | 2:49 |
4. | "Best to You" | 3:46 | |
5. | "With Him" |
| 1:25 |
6. | "E.V.P." |
| 5:44 |
7. | "Love Ya" | Eddy Grant | 2:48 |
8. | "But You" | Hynes | 3:01 |
9. | "Desirée" |
| 3:01 |
10. | "Hands Up" | Hynes | 4:09 |
11. | "Hadron Collider" |
| 3:44 |
12. | "Squash Squash" |
| 3:37 |
13. | "Juicy 1–4" | Hynes | 4:36 |
14. | "Better Than Me" | Hynes | 3:17 |
15. | "Thank You" |
| 3:04 |
16. | "I Know" | Hynes | 4:35 |
17. | "Better Numb" | Hynes | 3:01 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
18. | "St. Marcus" | 2:22 |
Sample credits
Chart (2016) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA Hitseekers) [26] | 4 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [27] | 78 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [28] | 125 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [29] | 81 |
New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ) [30] | 10 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [31] | 23 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [32] | 88 |
UK Albums (OCC) [33] | 154 |
US Billboard 200 [34] | 159 |
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [35] | 10 |
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