Shifting between aliases and musical projects can either be seen as the result of a restlessly creative spirit or a lack of direction. One man who's already worked under more musical incarnations than Bowie is Dev Hynes: whether sowing the seeds for the short lived nu-rave scene with The Test Icicles, making grandiose pop statements as Lightspeed Champion, or lending his production prowess to everyone from Solange Knowles to Florence Welch, his musical choices have been as varied and bizarre as his wardrobe. Blood Orange is his latest solo project and you can't blame someone for approaching this album with a mixture of curiosity and trepidation.
While his last solo release, Lightspeed Champion's Life Is Sweet Nice To Meet You jumped between genres so consistently that it bordered on schizophrenic, Coastal Grooves arrives more fully formed. While you can unearth fragments of music from the last 30 years scattered across the album- the genre cross-pollinations of Blondie being an obvious touchstone- there's never a sense that Hynes is trying to replicate a specific sound. The singer claims he drew inspiration from the 'identity blurring work of transgender icons such as Octavia St Laurent’, and he seems to have achieved a newfound confidence by embracing the ambiguity allowed by an alter-ego, alluded to by switches in the gender of the vocalist across the LP.
While it comes as no surprise that Hynes has turned to the indie and funk of the 80s for inspiration (let's face it, in 2011 it would be more surprising if he hadn't) it's easier to hear his music filtered through the raft of other acts that have mined similar influences in recent years. Opener 'Forget It' exhibits the rhythmic strumming and straight jacketed percussion re-popularised by The Drums, while lead single and album highlight 'Sutphin Boulevard' echoes The XX's 'Intro' in its simple but insistent bassline, stomping drum beat and reverb-laden guitar; the soundtrack to late night prowls through red light districts. Meanwhile Hyne's voice alternates between the pained earnestness of Bloc Party's Kele Okereke on 'I'm Sorry We Lied' and the seediness of early Prince on closer 'Champagne Coast', his enticements to 'come to my bedroom' managing to be both sordid and seductive.
As its name suggests, Coastal Grooves was put together in both New York and LA, a polarity reflected in tracks like 'S'Cooled' and 'Instantly Blank (The Goodness)', where dirty East Coast grooves are married with the laidback, buoyant guitars of the golden state in a bizarre union that you would only expect from an alienated Brit abroad. With a restless spirit like Hynes it's hard to tell whether or not Blood Orange is just another moniker that will be discarded in favour of the next fad, but it's a musical path that I would happily follow him down a little further.
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