by Currently on the road in support of his new album, Blood Orange has covered ‘How Soon Is Now?’ by The Smiths.
Blood Orange, whose real name is Dev Hynes, recently released his fifth studio album, titled Essex Honey. On the project, he enlisted a sizeable army of collaborators, such as Caroline Polacjek, Daniel Ceaser, Tariq Al-Sabir, who feature on ‘The Field’, as well as Lorde and Mustafa, who feature on ‘Mind Loaded’. The LP also includes collaborations from Turnstile’s Brendan Yates, Tirzah, Wet’s Kelly Zutrau, Ian Isiah, Eva Tolkin, and Liam Benzvi.
Hynes is now on the road with the album, stopping on October 16th at the Shrine Auditorium in LA. After opening the set with ‘Look At You’, ‘Time Will Tell’ and ‘Thinking Clean’, Hynes’ band left the stage as he covered ‘How Soon Is Now?’, The Smiths single released in 1985.
Hynes played the cover on the electric cello, barrelling through the opening lyrics, “I am the son and the heir / Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar / I am the son and heir / Of nothing in particular.”
It is no surprise that Hynes wowed the crowd with such musical skill; in 2022, he opened 15 shows at Madison Square Garden for indie-pop superstar Harry Styles and directed Styles’ Grammy performance of ‘Watermelon Sugar’, in which he also played bass. More recently, he produced songs on Lorde’s new album, Virgin, and appeared on the new Turnstile album, Never Enough.
Many of his collaborators have showered Hynes with praise. For example, Australian pop star Lorde has said he is the kind of artist who “everyone tries to imitate”, though his skills remain unmatched. In response, the 39-year-old praised Lorde’s “incredible pop brain” and ability to influence the music industry.
Hynes will next stop in Berlin on October 29th, when he will commence his European tour of the latest release. After two shows in Manchester, he will jet off to Toronto, New York, Dallas, Houston, Austin, and Atlanta, taking him well into Spring 2026.
