No, of course you don’t, they were terrible. One of my brothers, I can’t remember which because they’re both equally worthless to me, brought me their debut album for Christmas once, and it was a godless dirge apparently catered toward those who enjoyed The Klaxons’ general shittiness but found them altogether far too listenable
-2
I’ve never forgiven my brother, and the fact that I can’t remember which one it was who brought it for me meant they both had to die in that tragic tiddly winking accident soon after that I have been legally proven to have had nothing to do with
+12
Dev Hynes’s evolution since then has been extraordinary
+26
So much so that, although this is his first appearance as Blood Orange on the Necessary Evil end of year lists, he’s had a hand in many past achievements
+14
God, I love that cover/album
God, I love that cover/album
When was the last time you actually had a blood orange? Bet it was ages ago
-5
I consider ‘Freetown Sound’ as a wonderful ‘hang out album’
+15
You may have heard of ‘hang out movies’- or perhaps not, as I’m not 100% sure the term exists in popular usage- which are lovable pieces of cinema that you keep desiring to come back to, despite not dealing with much in the way or plot or spectacle, but because it introduces a set of characters and circumstances that you want to spend time with
+12
My favourite ‘hang out movie; ishttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXtzcViZPGA ‘The Act of Killing’: those guys are such lads!
+17
‘Freetown Sound’ is chronically unfocused, terribly meandering, roughly seven and a half years too long, and contains a few tracks that obviously never evolved on from the first sketching of the idea. Hynes is so good at cultivating such a great vibe around the record, though, that frequently revisiting it becomes essential
+8
‘FTS’ sounds at once an expertly crafted tribute to the music he grew up listening to (9 Prince Points) but also perhaps the most futuristic and inquisitive record of 2016: no other album of (cough) this year sounds more convincingly like what we’ll likely be listening to in 2026
+16
Yet it’s also unmistakeably the sound of now, as Hynes continues one of 2016’s most pleasing tropes of crafting pop music that is at once resolutely listenable and unafraid of tackling wider political issues, another reason why
Metacritic: +82
Length: 58 minutes -12
Best Lyric: ‘Ten Hail Marys, I meditate for practice/Channel 9 news tell me I’m movin’ backwards/Eight blocks left, death is around the corner/Seven misleadin’ statements ’bout my persona/Six headlights wavin’ in my direction/Five-O askin’ me what’s in my possession’ +1
Number of AMAZING songs: 1 (+10)
…But Are All the Rest of the Songs Kinda Amazing Anyway?
Mostly, though not always entirely memorable
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