This is ‘This Is Not Happening’ and it’s time for ‘Album of the Month’. The album is Essex Honey by Blood Orange and the Month is Oct. 2025. Some months we have obvious choices for AOTM, some months we have few options and some months it’s impossible to choose an album as there is an embarrassment of riches to pick from. This month we struggled with the latter but settled on Essex Honey. I am VERY glad we did but others are less so!
Devonté Hynes, AKA Blood Orange, is a Grammy-nominated English singer, songwriter, record producer, composer, and director based in New York City. I forgot all about the fact that he was in Test Icicles and was previously known as Lightspeed Champion before transitioning into Blood Orange. Devonté is a talented human being, playing multiple instruments to a standard where he plays for other artists; I think he is a consummate songwriter and an incredible producer. He also directs film work, composes scores and soundtracks… the list probably goes on.
But let’s focus on Blood Orange. This is the 5th album from Blood Orange released over an extended period since 2011. The albums that I am most familiar with are Cupid Deluxe from 2013 and Negro Swan from 2018. Both of these were consdidered for AOTM’s back in the TINH blog days. I think my decision to not pick them was that they would be considered to ‘noodley R&B’ by some on the blog? And I think this will be the deciding factor in the reaction to Essex Honey … but it’s also 14 years later, music has changed, the world has changed and we’ve all changed too.
So what does this album ‘sound like’? By this I mean, can we easily describe its sound, genre and similarity to other music so we can help build a picture of this for people?
The quick answer to this is … no. But I will have a go. I think the first thing people will hear is ‘R&B’ but I think that is massively reductive and will actually put some people off who might really enjoy this. I think this is fundamentally a pop album, it is a pop album about grief, loss, time and home … so it’s not disco-bangers-pop. This is key. The abum was written after the loss of his mother and the exploration of this in his mind. How it made him think about time, home and loss. It’s contemplative, calm, reflective, artful and soulful, experimental-pop. It’s an album of melodic fragments collected and presented across 14 songs and nearly 47 minutes. Yes, it uses some of the melodic and stylistic tropes of R&B … but no more than it uses the structure and approaches of classical music.
Here are some hot-takes on what I can hear on this album (interestingly, only one of these is an ‘R&B’ artists);
- Big Sufjan energy – ‘Carrie and Lowell’ (another album about loss which Dev listened to a lot after he lost his mother) but also ‘The Ascension’ and ‘Javelin’.
- There are also big jazz vibes that occur in the transitions and the odd fragment that reminds of Andre 3000 in experimental but also The Love Below modes.
- There are tracks that almost feel pure dream-pop guitar band a la early Deerhunter.
- I’d add Andorra-mode Caribou in this thought too.
- The tell-tale melodic style of Tuung pop up every now and then.
- The use of guitar (and how and where it is important) reminds of Blonde by Frank Ocean
The album is predominantly instrumented by guitar, piano, synths and a wealth of woodwind, brass and strings. Guitars are very important to this album. But for me the most important instrument is the human voice, Dev’s and his fellow contributors. There are so many vocal sounds and energies that wash over you at moments and pull you in at others.
Pretty much ever ‘track’ has a transition into the next ‘track’. These transitions are often fragments of other melodies, abstract sound experiments with acoustic instruments or a bit of everything. These transitions will be make or break or break for some in my opinion. Do these transitions create an angular energy in an otherwise very calm, lower-energy album or do they represent an interruption in the flow of energy from one amazing pop melody to the next.
As with any album, there are layers to the listening experience with this album. It is beautiful music to accompany you through life – working, cooking etc. But there is way more to this than it being beautiful background music. The next layer down is to listen in headphones on a calm walk, I found this to be a hypnotic and pseudo-therapeutic experience, thank you Dev. Sitting down and listening with lyrics reveals another layer and is massively rewarding.
This is what YouTuber ‘Deli’ did in his live reaction video – he predominately talks about hip hop so I was interested to watch this which is loads of fun and really interesting watch.
There are moments of pure lyrical beauty that are always accompanied by pure melodic beauty. With some artists, it feels like they think of a clever lyric and shoe horn it into the melody or the other way round – on this album it feels like this cmbinned beauty just flows out of Mr. Orange. A perfect example of this is on ‘Somewhere in Between’ where the lyric ‘Light was just for hope and it keeps flickering, and I just want to see again’ is paired perfectly with the songs melodic hook.
For me, there is a classical, symphonic approach to the strucure of this album. It feels like an overture, with repeated phrases, themes and motifs appearing throughout. These motifs reference themselves across and throughout the album. This coupled with Devonte’s skill as a writer of melody, lyrics, his experimental approach to instrumentation and accompaniment makes this at the very least, a very clever, fascinating album created by a very clever, fascinating artist.
If you like it or not might be a different matter. I love it.
thisisnothappening.net 
Thanks for this lovely blog post Joey, it’s always great to unpack our relationships with artists that we pick: the history, the feelings, the background. It gives more meaning to the endeavour. It’s also interesting seeing where that artist may have entered the TINH sphere before. You’ve done a great job of peiceing the album together.
I will hold up my hands and say that I’m only tangentially aware of Dev Hynes’ music. I do remember listening to Lightspeed Champion a while back but Blood Orange has never really come across my bows. So I approach this album with intrigue and hope, that I may find another act my brothers recommend that I end up loving.
I am definitely with you on the not-really-RNB. It’s all sorts of things really. At times it’s lush and melodic, but then energetic and even fragmented, but it’s also jazzy. It’s a real concoction that makes for a fascinating first listen. I remember enjoying it, but also wondering what exactly I was listening too at the same time. The gentle beginnings of Look At You were contemplative – and with the backstory, that falls into place, but I stayed away until a few listens in – showing many of the traits of the album in that one song. There were keys, vocals that were austere and enveloped in reberb, almost floating away in the air, and with them female vocals, a sax, piano keys, and percussive flourishes. Then, as if a sort of sleight of hand, just over halfway, the song transformed into something else entirely. It was confusing at first, but the change of pace and thinking did chime when you assess the album’s themes and how disorientating grief is.
Those first few listens were instructive: an almost belwildering array of musical styles, guests, switch-ups (which would become something of a blessing and a curse for me at times), with touches of soul, pop, r’n’b, drum’n’bass, big jazz feels, hints of shoegazey indie, all sprinkled with guests from Caroline Polachek and Lorde to less familiar ones such as a Tirzah and Eva Tolkin. All into this sort of melting pot that washed over you, reminding me of so many artists and tracks, but only in glimpses. I really enjoyed those first few listens, but I wasn’t sure what was actually going on.
Once I read reviews and your blog, it all took on a different hue. Grief is front and centre of the whole endeavour. Once you listen with the lyrics – because wth me, unless I’m 100% committed to listening, they sort of slide by you – it is a step change. The first time I listened and read the lyrics, it was at times hard to do so. So heavy was the weight of the subject, this yearning, wishing of his mother to still be there; memories and thoughts almost haunting the beautiful melodies. I am actually glad I don’t really hear the lyrics standing out all the time when I roll through the album each time. We’ve dealt with grief before on this pod, memorably so with Julie Byrne’s The Greater Wings two years ago this month, and it’s a both brave and challenging entity to approach with music, especially, as with here, when it is part of everything on the album.
There are some memorable moments here, and it’s hard not to dispute the talent and invention of Hynes as a composer, writer, lyricist, guitarist to put something so personal and kaleidoscopic together. Here are a few of my thoughts on where I feel the ‘energy of’ someone:
But let’s talk about the ‘switch-ups’, or transitions. They are such a huge part of the album, and when I first listened I felt this was very cool, inventive, clever. It was the right side of showing off, because Hynes and this album never came across as that. It felt like painting a series of watercolours, where you’d look through it and see/feel something different at different parts of the picture.
There’s a but though, isn’t there. As I’ve listened more and more (and I’m 20+ in), while some of these switches work like a dream – think when the drums drop over the rising piano chords in Thinking Clean, or the breakbeats flitting in and out of The Field – there are tracks where the more i listen, the less I feel like they add to the effect. The Last of England is a beautiful, stripped back piano, strings and vocal lament, but the drums just seem to invade it and break the vibe. Somewhere In Between, one of my favourites on the album, drifts away into an orchestra tune-up for reasons I’m not clear on. Mind Loaded, another standout, is a wonderful, haunting track which decides to switch into thick piano chords. I get that this may be the effect of a mind clouded in grief, but after a dozen listens, it starts to feel overdone, and I find myself not looking fowrard to the moments, even actively skipping onto the next track. My favourite moments are often where tracks are undisturbed.
I am also struggling to connect with it, which seems strange given how heartfelt it is. All the right ingredients are there for me, but it’s yet to sink in. It’s strange as it is frustrating, because even with the gripes on the transitions, it’s still a pretty stunning work. But for whatever reason, it is lovely to listen to, to work to, to cook to, but even in the phones, it doesn’t seem to penetrate. Maybe it’ll happen with the pods. I do need to listen to them. But I feel like there’s a wall I can’t get around.
But it would be boring if we all felt the same, eh?
Thanks for the write up Joey, I agree, this has been a winner that has come out of the blue. Cards on the table. I had no clue about Blood Orange, but I’m fully invested now.
As a self-proclaimed fan of seasonal albums, you have nailed this as I can’t think of many other albums that both work in the sunshine, but also the fast approaching autumn months. The album feels like an immersive journey with end to end connectivity.
This album flows effortlessly and has many consistent touch points, (ie. ‘I Don’t Want To BE Here Anymore’ woven throughout). I get you on the Caribou comparison, I’d also say Steve Lacey, Tame Impala and Frank Ocean and actually thinking about it other members of Odd Future as well. All said artists walk a fibe line between unfinished ideas and perfectly constructed thoughts. Blood Orange joins this club perfectly.
He’s said in a few interviews, that some of the music are tracks that’s he’s been playing with for the last 12 years. I think his whole approach is interesting.. but that’s a rabbit hole maybe we’ll touch on when we do the pod?
I think there’s a lot in here, it’s about family, it’s about love, but he also has commented that it’s a love letter to music that he loves.
It’s a lovely album, and I’m enjoying it…
Listening to this album, I find myself thinking – why the living fuck have I not engage with Blood Orange before? He’s been on my radar for years and have liked the odd song that I’ve heard, but I just hadn’t realised he has such an extensive back catalogue
It’s crazy when you consider the influences of contemporaries like – OBVS! – Frank Ocean but also Steve Lacy, and we all know how much I love Steve Lacy. So why haven’t I fallen for Blood Orange before? I guess I’d never heard anything that got under my skin and I realise why that is now – because you need to invest in his music and then boy, will you get rewarded!
I’ve really enjoyed the journey of getting to know this album – I too felt it was a little bit samey, low key and lacking in bangers when I first came across it. But what’s been astonishing is how it’s opened up like a flower on repeated listens. I just listened to it again this morning before writing this, and I can’t believe how COMPLETE it feels. It’s so carefully constructed despite feeling loose and experimental, but it also has a profound sense of melody, and is packed full of beautiful moments.
Loved so many of the references you’ve made – Tunng is such a great pic. I was also thinking of Cinematic Orchestra (remember them?). But I also want to make a shout for Talk Talk, in particular Spirit of Eden – a reflective, introverted masterpiece of an album, and one that touches on some pretty dark stuff (e.g. Hollis’s brother’s heroin addiction). The spirit – no pun intended – of that album feels really present on this record to me. It’s boundary pushing, forward thinking but also very personal and moving.
Very much looking forward to unpicking this album, which I’m pretty certain is going to be in my top 10 at the end of what is already a stupidly strong year. Thanks so much for picking this album, Joey, I’m in love with it!
Oh Jeez, I’ve just realised another massive influence: This Mortal Coil! The clever use of guest vocals and instruments (Durutti Column FFS!), the ethereal, other worldly-vibe. OMG, what a crazy comparison, but it’s so there!