Blood Orange – aka Dev Hynes – shares his first album in over six years, ‘Essex Honey’ via RCA Records. He also debuts a self-directed music video for ‘Countryside’ ft. Eva Tolkin, Liam Benzvi, and Ian Isiah. Written, produced, and recorded by Hynes, ‘Essex Honey’ is a soundtrack created from a dreamscape of his journey working through grief. It is also an album about growing up in Essex (outside London) and the way music has inspired, healed, and interwoven itself through Hynes’ life.
Like all Blood Orange albums, ‘Essex Honey’ comes with an incredible list of collaborators, some who have created with Hynes multiple times, and others who are new to his sonic fold. These include Lorde, Caroline Polachek, Daniel Cesar, Mustafa, Turnstile’s Brendan Yates, Tariq Al-Sabir, author Zadie Smith – singing on an album for the first time – Ian Isiah, Tirzah, Eva Tolkin, The Durutti Column, Wet’s Kelly Zutrau, actors Naomi Scott and Amandala Stenberg, and Liam Benzvi.
‘Essex Honey’ is everything Hynes does best and then some. Lyrically, he taps into the experiences of himself and his close friends, creating a love letter to his musical inspirations, wrapped in honesty. Close listens reveal refrains from some of Hynes’ influences growing up, including Elliott Smith, The Replacements, and more, allowing Hynes to lean backwards to his comfort listens while moving his own sound forward. ‘Essex Honey’ is an album tinted with grief and loss, working towards acceptance and resolution, at a time when the culture is collectively feeling grief and loss, collectively trying to work towards resolution and acceptance. It is a beautiful swirl, an elegantly crafted pastiche of melodies and sounds, assembled in the way only Hynes knows, crafting an intimate, scintillating whole and one of the best albums of 2025.
This fall, Blood Orange goes on the road to share ‘Essex Honey’ with the masses, with headline dates, major festivals, and opening slots for Turnstile and Lorde for select shows on their respective tours.
Upcoming tour dates:
September 20th – Midway DJ Set – Freakquencies – San Francisco
September 21st – Portola Music Festival – San Francisco
September 23nd – KEMBA LIVE! w/ Turnstile – Columbus
September 24th – Brown’s Island w/ Turnstile – Richmond
September 26th – TD Garden w/ Lorde – Boston
September 27th – Bell Centre w/ Lorde – Montreal, Quebec
September 30th – Wells Fargo Center w/ Lorde – Philadelphia
October 14th – Red Rocks Amphitheatre w/ Lorde – Morrison
October 16th – Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall – Los Angeles
October 17th – MGM Grand Garden w/ Lorde – Las Vegas
October 18th – Kia Forum w/ Lorde – Inglewood
October 29th – Columbiahalle – Berlin, Germany
October 31st – C2C Festival @ Lingotto Fiere Torino – Torino
November 3rd – Pitchfork Festival – L’Olympia, Paris
November 4th – TivoliVredenburg – Utrecht, Netherlands
November 7th – Alexandra Palace Theater – London, UK
November 8th – Alexandra Palace Theatre – London, UK
November 9th – Alexandra Palace Theatre – London, UK
November 10th – Alexandra Palace Theatre – London, UK
November 13th – Electric Bristol – Bristol, UK
November 15th – AO Arena w/ Lorde – Manchester
November 19th – History – Toronto, ON
November 20th – History – Toronto, ON
November 29th – Brooklyn Steel – Brooklyn, NY
November 30th – Brooklyn Steel – Brooklyn, NY
December 2nd – Brooklyn Steel – Brooklyn, NY
December 3rd – Brooklyn Steel – Brooklyn, NY
December 4th – Brooklyn Steel – Brooklyn, NY
December 5th – Brooklyn Steel – Brooklyn, NY