Cupid Deluxe
| Blood Orange
Cupid Deluxe
Cupid Deluxe is the second album by Dev Hynes as Blood Orange, and is the follow up to 2011's Coastal Grooves. The album was released on 18 November 2013 in the UK, and was available worldwide a week earlier on iTunes on 12 November 2013. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Devonté Hynes, aka Blood Orange, channels vagabond emotions into something universal and inviting. His Cupid Deluxe is an album that tenderly details heartbreak through the language of longing.
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Consequence of Sound
Though the second half of Cupid Deluxe occasionally meanders and loses the immediacy of the first four songs, there are bright spots throughout. Hynes’s production is top notch, providing crisp treatments for his diverse, moody, NYC-inspired pop songs.
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Rolling Stone
All totaled, Hynes is a triple threat, a total original and a force to be reckoned with.
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The Guardian
Altogether, Hynes' most impressive album yet.
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The Guardian
After years of toying around, Hynes may have finally found the sound that suits him best.
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NME
The collaborations on Dev Hynes’ second solo album are a success, but left to his own devices, things get icky.
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Drowned in Sound
Cupid Deluxe is arguably Hynes' finest work and an improvement on his debut release but he shouldn't be afraid to place himself centre stage instead of hiding behind a host of guest appearances.
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Pop Matters
Hynes shows his trademark moves, and also demonstrates that he's not a one-trick pony—he can expand his sound, and push further into new territory.
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The Quietus
Despite the transience, this is the most settled and mature his work has ever sounded. To put it another way, it's a look that suits, and you hope it sticks.
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Los Angeles Times
There's a bravery to Hynes' vulnerability here. He finds what he's looking for, and he doesn't flinch.
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Pretty Much Amazing
Whether we realize it or not, we’ve been listening to the music of certified triple threat Devonte Hynes for a long time.
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Sputnik Music
Cupid Deluxe is not an imperfect record, but it is still a powerful reminder of how grossly underrated Dev Hynes is as an artist in his own right.
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Slant Magazine
Blood Orange’s sophomore effort details a chronicle of alienation and broken romance with slow, melancholic, ‘90s-gazing jams.
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Chicago Tribune
It’s an atmosphere soaked in deceptively mellow and melancholy neo-soul, another take on the worlds created by Sade’s whispered regrets and the Weeknd’s decadent obsessions. Like these artists, Hynes values rhythms that sway, but sings in a voice that sounds far removed from the dancefloor.
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Under the Radar Mag
After quality work bearing other artists' names, the latest Blood Orange album is evidence that Hynes cuts no corners when it comes to his own efforts.
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Colorado Daily
Dev Hynes knows how to make pain beautiful. Cupid Deluxe, his second record as Blood Orange, could break your heart.
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Irish Times
Dev Hynes has always been a creative force, and his recent prolific streak has only elevated his profile.
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Beat Magazine
One of the best albums of 2013.
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A Pop Life
The songs, the beautiful production and the subjects make this album come highly recommended. Ever since I bought this album, I have followed Hynes/Blood Orange closely. He has yet to disappoint me.
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The Line of Best Fit
It might very well be the case that, as previous ventures suggest, he’s a dedicated follower of musical fashion, but if he keeps turning out albums as polished and accomplished as this one, I don’t think anyone would begrudge him his preference for stylistic nomadism.
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All Music
He's an artist with ideas and while they sometimes pile up and crash on Cupid Deluxe, it's always a spectacular crash, and that's something worth investigating.
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Renowned for Sound
Hynes has evidently honed his formula into an exotic and potent concoction, and with Cupid Deluxe, the listener will more than be struck with its arrow.
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Spectrum Culture
While the general public might be slow catching onto the Hynes name or Blood Orange alias, artists should be lining up for his services.
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Timeout
A career-best record from the time-travelling troubadour.
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LONDON IN STEREO
The overall effect is of Alexa Chung’s Instagram feed mid-beach break: full of beautiful people and exotic flourishes, but ultimately smug and soulless.
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Stereogum
This is private, obsessive, deeply-felt music, and if not for all the craftsmanship involved, the lyrics might come off like diary-scribbling. And yet Hynes manages to make a communal experience out of it, getting great work out of his collaborators and bringing them into his personal soundworld.
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Treble Zine
Even when the songs don’t entirely come together, they always sound immaculate. And though it’s easy to read his aesthetic as kitschy or nostalgic, he backs up his lush ‘80s soul with songwriting strong enough to make his stylistic choices pay off more than they would were his productions merely hollow vessels.
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Musically Proper
Cupid Deluxe encapsulates the finest that pop has to offer from the ’80s to now.
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MIMO
Cupid Deluxe is not only the most cohesive, consistent and compelling of his career, it’s also a late contender for record of the year.
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FACT Magazine
Hynes may “have trouble being the face of music [he’s] made,” but he’d be better served by playing to his strengths: lovelorn ballads with female singers are certainly the finest arrow in this cupid’s quiver.
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SPIN
Blood Orange’s ‘Cupid Deluxe’ Is a Marvel of Sweetly Pained, Outsider-Oriented R&B.
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The Needle Drop
The latest release from songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Devonte Hynes, a.k.a. Blood Orange, engages in some of the most excruciating 80s revivalism I've heard all year.
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OK West
Instead of appearing cheap and lazy, the references to past work puts this material . . . in a refreshing and exciting light that allows Deluxe to not only stand alone as a remarkably solid and cohesive LP but also as a piece to a greater whole.
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The 405
Cupid Deluxe is probably Dev Hynes' most accomplished and intricate release to date. It's also the most wonderful kind of retro-pop you're likely to hear this year.
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Black Plastic
This is one of the most ambitious and fascinating albums I've heard all year, and yet having lived with it for a week it already feels intense to listen to.
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Best New Bands
“Cupid Deluxe”, the second album from Dev Hynes’s retro R&B project Blood Orange, is a vulnerable retrospect of the fragility of love, cloaked in slow jam new wave, throwback drum loops, and traces of acid jazz.
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Contact Music
Dev has found the sound that suits him better than any and one that will deservedly propel him to eminence.
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Buzzfeed
Hynes has more impressive tricks up his sleeve, as he transcends direct reference by making skillful use of theme, structure, and sound on the rest of Cupid Deluxe to honor queerness in a tender, touching way.
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The Local Joke
Shrouded amidst the lush, stylish pop of Cupid Deluxe is a true biographical account to a time and place long forgotten.
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Soundblab
You go through the record and it is genuinely enjoyable. Tracks like 'It is What It is' and 'On the Line' bring out feel-good, R&B vibes and there don't seem to be too many missteps. However the dynamics of the album don't ever change, no single track really jumps out as being game-changing or particularly exciting.
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UCSD Guardian
“Cupid Deluxe” showcases a higher level of precision and expertise from Hynes, making it feel more substantial. Perhaps out of all of his previous musical phases, this is the one he feels the most comfortable with.
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Reviler
Is Blood Orange the future of funk? I dunno. But if Cupid Deluxe is where funk is resting right now, that’s okay by me.
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Reviler
Hynes keeps his vocals well within range to keep everything moving at a steady pace. It’s definitely a well done follow-up.
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Reviler
Cupid Deluxe is drenched in melancholy, like a male Solange.
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NOW Toronto
Listening to Cupid Deluxe is a bit like unwittingly arriving at a house party in full swing and wandering between groupings of people: it's an effortless but unpredictable experience.
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No Ripcord
Floating gracefully, and guided by a stylish demigod of his own imagining, he glides atop the current of the zeitgeist as globalized and immediately accessible as the modern urban hub he calls home.
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Straits Times
Such is the wisdom of Hynes' velvet- smooth aesthetics: Life may be tough, but we'll get through it together.
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The Arts Desk
Cupid Deluxe: virtuosic slinkiness and sense of mystery.
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DIY Mag
Dev Hynes’ next grand transformation goes straight for the bullseye.
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Platform
For all its variety, the album never seems to lose cohesion or direction.
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Cherwell
The best thing he’s recorded since 2009, a wistful paean to London meadering in and out of a ghostly beat like a preoccupied youth wandering through the backstreets of Tottenham after dark. Truly urban music.
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Earbuddy
Devonté Hynes’ sophomore album will get you groovin’ “Big Apple” style.
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CKUW Radio
Cupid Deluxe has a lot of spice with its several featured artists such as David Longstreth, Samantha Urbani, Clams Casino and plenty more.
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BBM Live
Cupid Deluxe is possibly one of Hynes’ most outstanding projects and is a vast improvement to his previous album ‘Coastal Grooves’.
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Witch Doctor
It’s that kind of record: on the face of it, smooth soul-funk moves, but full of strange and alluring additions just for the attentive listener.
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WXJM Radio
Set aside an hour and allow yourself to feel alone while Hynes croons you into feeling of euphoria. Even if you don’t feel exalted you will sure be moved to dance alone in your room.
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KCOU Radio
It took me a few listens to decide on my feelings, and I enjoyed trying to figure out how I felt about it. If you do the same and find that you don’t agree with what I’m saying here, Cupid Deluxe is still definitely worth the listen.
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Music And Other Thingz
There is no great fluctuations in tone and feel either but tracks like ‘Always Let U Down’ shows that he has perfected the atmospheric and spaced out pop that has pride of place on every track.
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Metro
Blood Orange has fired his second arrow with Cupid Deluxe.
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Music Factory Number One
A rich, poignant and human record that constitutes the artist’s finest work to date.
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UR Chicago
The more I listen to Cupid Deluxe, the more convinced I am that it’s one of the most dynamic records of 2013.
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Faeton Music Blog
I want to listen this . . . album again and again.
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The Salfordian
Dev Hynes is way beyond his time. He encapsulates the vibe and energy of eighties pop and hip-hop and blends it with his own arsenal of modern sounds to create something truly unique.
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XYZ Magazine
As the record dwindles out into indistinct chatter, you can’t help but want to. It’s an uncanny deja entendu – you’ve heard it before, but you really, really want to hear it again.
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Tender Lentil
Hynes is in control of every aspect of the album, from beginning to end every beat is spot on, and every note precise.
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Before You Live
Because of its relatable songwriting and Disco centered production, Blood Orange feels confident with our insecurity at Cupid Deluxe.
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Arena Music
Cupid Deluxe is complex, varying, and has as much to do with stress and discontentment as it does joy, exhalation, and release -- a lot like love.
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Real College Radio
Hynes may insist that “I can only disappoint you,” but it would be a struggle not to be satisfied by Cupid Deluxe.
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