How can I explain how glad I am I came across this particular musician? I was definitely reading a book by it's cover when I read that the title of the album was Coastal Grooves, and I was not disappointed. From the opening track, Forget It, it's easy to compare the upbeat flow and almost 80's croon to groups like The Drums, or Girls. He has that mellow voice that is nestled somewhere between lovestruck and heartbroken. That is until halfway through the opening tracks when singer/songwriter Davonte Hynes really shows off his chops with a guitar. That is something I find most surprising about this album, is it's pop sensibility, yet here and there, Hynes throws in some guitar work that doesn't feel forced or out of place, it feels wonderful. It's not all shredding either, on the track S'cooled he displays his affinity for reverb and various ambient guitar textures. Sure it's one of the slower and less immediately poppy songs on the album, but it's damn good. And perhaps this is just my fairly recent interest in dub music talking, but the percussion in that tune drive me wild. I can't help but think the thick funky bass coupled with reverberated percussion was influenced by dub artists the like of Scientist and King Tubby. This is even more evident in the following track, Complete Failure, and it's atmospheric percussion during the verse.
I'm not sure if Hynes has decided on a single for the album yet, but if he were to, he'd be foolish not to pick the second track on the album, Sutphin Boulevard. It opens with a floor thumping beat and a walking guitar that is just damn funky. Hynes eases the song into pop bliss when the chorus drops, and the walking guitar turns into such brilliantly spacey picking that it's impossible to not swivel your head around on your neck.
Yet there are a few songs that just come off as weird, and it effects the flow of the album in my opinion. Though I also wouldn't want an album full of nothing but in your face pop, these few odd songs seem too out of step with the rest of the album, and I found myself finding them instantly forgettable, and regrettably skippable. Yet to be fair, this is a fantastic debut album, and I certainly still think it is fantastic. This is enough to keep me itching for a follow up EP or another LP, yet this album has enough substance to keep me entertained for some amount of time. Can't wait to hear more from Blood Orange, and I hope he gets some excellent exposure, because he definitely deserves it for the obvious hard work that he put into Coastal Grooves.
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