Essex Honey
by Blood Orange
- Type: Album
- Released: 29 August 2025
- Label: RCA, Domino
- Country: United Kingdom
- Length: 46:30
- Community rating: 3.84/5 from 24 ratings
Album Notes & Community Reviews
On 'Essex Honey', Dev Hynes explores themes of grief, memory, and his upbringing in Essex through a self-produced soundscape that blends his signature, layered R&B with gentle piano, jazz flourishes, and nods to Elliott Smith. The album features a wide array of collaborators including Lorde, Caroline Polachek, and Zadie Smith, who are integrated into the record's contemplative and hazy atmosphere rather than serving as prominent features. As his first full-length Blood Orange album in over six years, the work is noted for its direct lyricism and sophisticated, cathartic exploration of personal and collective loss.
Genres
Descriptors: soulful, minimal, electronic, personal, downtempo
Tracklist
- Look At You (02:59)
- Thinking Clean (03:34)
- Somewhere in Between (03:23)
- The Field (feat. The Durutti Column, Tariq Al-Sabir, Caroline Polachek & Daniel Caesar) (03:19)
- Mind Loaded (feat. Caroline Polachek, Lorde & Mustafa) (03:37)
- Vivid Light (04:22)
- Countryside (feat. Eva Tolkin, Liam Benzvi & Ian Isiah) (03:10)
- The Last of England (03:53)
- Life (feat. Tirzah & Charlotte Dos Santos) (02:52)
- Westerberg (feat. Eva Tolkin & Liam Benzvi) (03:26)
- The Train (King's Cross) (feat. Caroline Polachek) (02:48)
- Scared of It (feat. Brendan Yates & Ben Watt) (02:41)
- I Listened (Every Night) (03:35)
- I Can Go (feat. Mabe Fratti & Mustafa) (02:51)
Credits
- Devonté Hynes - vocals, production, mixing, engineering, producer, songwriter
- Lorde - contributions, vocals, featured artist
- Caroline Polachek - contributions, featured artist, vocals
- Daniel Caesar - contributions, featured artist
- Mustafa the Poet - contributions
- Brendan Yates - contributions, featured artist
- Ben Watt - contributions, featured artist
- Naomi Scott - contributions
- Amandla Stenberg - contributions
- Zadie Smith - contributions, vocals
- The Durutti Column - featured artist
- Tariq Al-Sabir - featured artist
- Eva Tolkin - background vocals (4), featured artist
- Liam Benzvi - featured artist
- Ian Isiah - featured artist
- Tirzah - featured artist
- Charlotte Dos Santos - featured artist
- Mabe Fratti - featured artist
- Mikaelin Bluespruce - mixing
- Heba Kadry - mastering
- Alec Fellman - engineering (tracks 2–4, 6–8, 13)
- Evie Clark-Yospa - engineering (3–5)
- Jim-E Stack - engineering (5)
- Migui Maloles - engineering (5)
- Katharina Korbjuhn - art, design & layout