Dev Hynes has never been one to sit still. Having dabbled in punk, with Test Icicles, and indie, as Lightspeed Champion, he’s fashioned an exciting niche of late as a producer to the stars of alt-pop and R&B. His work adorns recent releases from Solange, MKS and Sky Ferreira, while his first album under the Blood Orange banner, ‘Coastal Grooves’, was uneven but loaded with potential.
‘Cupid Deluxe’ finds Hynes playing puppeteer with a string of guest vocalists, orchestrating a record that forms much more of a cohesive whole than it has any right to. Dripping in ‘80s grooves, nods to Hynes' love of New York’s gay and transgender scene and conjuring images of the city’s bright lights smudged by VHS lens flares, it’s an album that manages to cling on to its aesthetic well enough that its disjointed list of contributors registers only a little.
Each song floats on a bed of dark synths, pop bass and funk guitars, alternately referencing Prince, Michael Jackson and a whole host of soft focus sex scenes from ‘80s action films.
From the opening drawl of Chamakay, Hynes sketches out a series of relationship tales over immersive instrumentation, reaching a huge high point on You’re Not Good Enough.
Here, in tandem with Friends’ Samantha Urbani and in a rare moment of gleeful spite, he coos: "I never was in love, you know that you were never good enough."
Elsewhere Hynes is more earnest, allowing his lyrics to tread on more familiar ground on the excellent, soulful No Right Thing and exploring melancholy tales of life on the margins.
There are a few moments when Hynes drops the ball - the spoken-word intro to Chosen, a largely uninspiring foray into hip-hop on Clipped On - but overall he’s on sparkling form. ‘Cupid Deluxe’ is sprawling, ambitious and frequently brilliant.
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