Blood Orange in Chicago

About the artist

Blood Orange is the solo project of Devonté Hynes, a multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter from East London, now based in New York. Hynes began his career in the dance-punk band Test Icicles and the folk-leaning project Lightspeed Champion, before finding his true voice with Blood Orange in 2011. Since then he has released five albums — from the retro-dreaming debut Coastal Grooves to the intimate, critically acclaimed Negro Swan — and produced for artists such as Solange, FKA Twigs, Sky Ferreira and Carly Rae Jepsen. The music fuses soul, funk, 80s synth-pop, R&B and post-punk into something entirely its own — nostalgic and forward-looking at the same time. Over soft falsettos and warm productions, Hynes explores themes of race, identity, sexuality and vulnerability with a poetic honesty that has drawn comparisons to Prince. Live, Blood Orange is a rare and sensuous experience. Hynes moves between guitar, cello, synth and vocals with an effortless charisma that makes each concert feel intimate and dreamlike — like stepping into a world he has built just for you.