GAYLETTER

My memory is pretty bad. I can’t remember names; I never even try with phone numbers, and I have one of those unconsciously narcissistic memory banks that tends to sway a lot of things in my direction (like making me the false origin of a joke). This isn’t an apology as much as it is a statement of the obvious. However, my memory slays when it comes to lyrics! It’s what usually sticks out to me in music primarily, and I dissect the instrumental later. One thing I can say, having been a fan of Blood Orange for the past few years, is that Dev Hynes masterfully composes the lyrical and the musical into one immersive listening experience that is incomparable. My head never wants to separate his words from his instrumental, instead, it completely soaks me.

In tandem with a surprise release of his third album, Freetown Sound, Dev Hynes released the video for his song  ‘Augustine,’ last Wednesday. With the help of Hyne’s retro, R&B feel,  Augustine sounds and looks like a New York not-so-far gone. The 80’s rhythm, avant-garde dancers, and shots of Hynes playing piano in an empty, sunlit dance studio produce a nostalgia ripe, with emotional undertones.  The song pays partial tribute to Saint Augustine, an African Bishop of Hippo (modern-day Annaba, Algeria), born in 354, who was a great writer, and also Nontetha, the South African prophet and seer “who fought for unity and the cessation of fighting and feuds in the [South African] region.

Augustine celebrates bodies in motion and the necessity of community. The song begins with a short prelude, Thank You, which gives thanks to promises, faith, and praise. Following a feminist monologue in the album opener “By Ourselves,” Augustine serves as heartfelt tribute to oppressed figures, be they women, prophets, or people of color. As we see more oppressive violence on a daily basis, Hynes helps us remember that this problem is ages old and can be combated with an anger combined of passion and compassion.

Check out the video for Augustine below and be sure to pick up Freetown Sound, out now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXtzcViZPGA