Cupid Deluxe offers sensuality and dark secrets

By Dylan Frost

The second album by Devonte Hynes’ persona Blood Orange has shaken the indie-music scene with its deep-rooted sensuality and raw emotions.

Admittedly, my ears fall deaf to R&B music – contemporary and past – so it took an adjustment to grasp the hype around “Cupid Deluxe.” Despite placing it in an unfamiliar realm, there is a very discernible connection between it and certain indie-rock groups who compose these sophisticated pop songs with salaciously poetic lyrics and lightly jazz-influenced undertones. It is similar to Ducktails’ early-year release “The Flower Lane.”

Blood Orange’s new album, like other chillwave groups, is dreamy and preppy with an edge. What separates Hynes’ music from the former though is that Ducktails’ songs are somewhat innocent daydreamer tunes about young love, while “Cupid Deluxe” has dark themes underneath the sweet-sounding melodies.

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There is a lot of tragedy, heartbreak and love searching in dark places. “Uncle Ace” is a song seemingly about transvestism and prostitution during a late-night stroll through the town.

“Not like the other girls/Go home and wait for me/I’ll be there after five/The others got that V,” Hynes sensually sings over a funky guitar lead and new wave-type rhythm. During the chorus, he goes on to say, “does this feel easy ‘cuz it’s all you get from me.”

The album cover to “Cupid Deluxe” literally captures the album’s theme of transvestism: a rather androgenic individual with frizzy-long hair and a mask covering the eyes. The person is wearing nothing but two-piece underwear, red lipstick and yellow high heels with arms to the hips, flaunting a toned body.

The album’s shtick is realized a couple of tracks through, in reflective and abstract songs about the coming together or falling apart of a relationship and the complexities of human love. But it isn’t as if Hynes is speaking facetiously of anyone’s sexual preferences; His well-arranged songs are sincere and speak from the heart for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation.

The album maintains its soulful consistency until the seventh-track – “Clipped On” – erupts into a head-bopping song fused with energetic raps and prominent drums, complemented by an ambient synth playing low-octave minor chords. The result is a revival of ’90s New York hip-hop until Hynes interjects back into the last third of the song, bringing the pace down again.

Hynes’ girlfriend, Samantha Urbani, backs him up on nearly every song, either singing in unison with her boyfriend or providing an uplifting voice to an otherwise dreary moment in a song. Her talents are on full display during the hopeful “It Is What It Is,” a song where her voice dominates the chorus.

“Time will tell if you can figure this and work it out/No one’s waiting for you anyway so don’t be stressed now/Even if it’s something that you’ve had your eye on, it is what it is,” she sings with finesse.

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The composition of “Cupid Deluxe” is very impressive and often stylish. Hynes’ work as an instrumentalist on the album is also admirable. He does it all: vocals, guitar, bass, synthesizer, keyboards and drums. The horn section, though subtle, might be the highlight of “Cupid Deluxe”. Although the simple yet dynamic drums make a good case.

Despite the chicness of the songs – and if it wasn’t for some of the raunchy moments lyrically – I could not help but to think that it’s the type of music that plays well through the intercom at Macy’s while someone is browsing around in the jean department. The album’s feel-good melodies are perfect stress relievers for someone in a purchasing dilemma between a pair of Levis and Wranglers.

Time will tell whether or not “Cupid Deluxe” has a lasting impact on music lovers. Composition wise, it touches many genres and generations including ’70s-era disco, ’80s R&B, ’90s hip-hop and the contemporary indie-pop scene, like chillwave. As the world takes in the soothing and often harrowing sounds that Blood Orange has poured out from his heart and soul, it will be interesting to see if becomes as critically-acclaimed as Prince’s “Purple Rain,” because many media outlets appear to be putting it into that territory.

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