Blood Orange’s new album is complete. Earlier today he uploaded a visual teaser to Instagram with a snippet of new music and a message: “Blood Orange Album 4 is ready. Stay tuned.” Now, he’s shared the full title, Negro Swan.
“My newest album is an exploration into my own and many types of black depression, an honest look at the corners of black existence, and the ongoing anxieties of queer/people of colour,” Dev Hynes writes in a statement. “A reach back into childhood and modern traumas, and the things we do to get through it all. The underlying thread through each piece on the album is the idea of HOPE, and the lights we can try to turn on within ourselves with a hopefully positive outcome of helping others out of their darkness.”
The album was entirely written and produced by Hynes, according to a press release.
Dev Hynes’ last album as Blood Orange was 2016’s stellar Freetown Sound. Since its release, he’s shared updates on the new record: in October last year he said that it was “78 per cent done”, then earlier this year he posted the words “be right back. Thanks for your patience” to his Instagram. He’s previously described the record as being about “growing up and childhood in England, looking at the country that made me.”
Earlier this year, Hynes shared two new Blood Orange songs for Black History Month, “Christopher & 6th” and “JUNE 12TH”. He later announced a tour, with a few festival slots in July and August, and a full tour from September.
Negro Swan is out August 24. Check out its artwork above and the Instagram teaser below.