As a member of short-lived dance punks Test Icicles, Dev Hynes abused eardrums and EQ levels with glee. Since that group's demise, he's flashed surprising proclivities towards lush, orchestral-tinged folk-pop in the vein of Okkervil River with his solo project Lightspeed Champion. There have been growing pains at every step along the way, but they were always the result of Hynes admirably trying to do too much, trying to pour too many words and ideas and emotions into his compositions. So it's a real shock listening to Coastal Grooves, the debut LP released under Hynes' newest solo moniker, Blood Orange. Coastal Grooves is all about what's missing-- it's a highly stylish album that frequently forgoes things like melodies, energy, and vocal choruses in favor of slinky, solitary guitar lines and seductively spare, post-punk atmospherics.
Most of the album's 10 tracks feel like promising skeletal demos of songs that are close to being truly great. Hynes is a gifted and voracious guitarist, displaying here particular predilections for sounds from Asia and the American West. Aside from a couple of purely moody pieces ("Can We Go Inside Now", "Complete Failure"), Coastal Grooves is also largely propelled by strong, strutting rhythmic foundations, while Hynes' vocals remain appealingly florid throughout.
The problem is there are almost no payoffs. Far too often, Hynes lays intriguing groundwork for a sexy, indie-funk jam or a sweetly kissed pop song, arrives at the chorus, and gives us only a stark guitar line or plinky little rhythm. I suppose this minimalist approach is in keeping with the album's artfully space-conscious post-punk leanings, and sometimes the device is evocative (particularly on first single "Sutphin Boulevard"), but it gets to a point with Coastal Grooves that you halfway start expecting to hear Hynes mumble, "Chorus goes here," during some of the seemingly placeholding moments. Subsequently, the few songs that have genuine vocal refrains-- like "Forget It" and "The Complete Knock"-- end up feeling more fleshed out and dynamic than they really are.
Hynes is the type of demonstrative, emotionally engaging artist who definitely feels more at home being messily overambitious than coolly restrained. The sounds he pursues here as Blood Orange might be more hip than his work as Lightspeed Champion, but the end results are less satisfying. Ideally, a blend of the two styles would be best, the artfulness of one project with the human connection of the other. So which sounds better: Blood Champion, or Lightspeed Orange?
