Test Icicles and Lightspeed Champion

London's Test Icicles, a trio of vocalists and guitarists (two White US-born kids, namely Rory Attwell and Sam Mehran, and local Black kid Devonte' Hynes, who also played synth), played dance-punk on For Screening Purposes Only (2005), containing the scruffy cacophonous ska-punk number Circle Square Triangle, during the vogue of electroclash.

Devonte' Hynes relocated to New York and debuted solo under the moniker Lightspeed Champion with Falling Off the Lavender Bridge (2008), which contains the Elvis Costello-esque power-pop ballad Tell Me What It's Worth' and the ten-minute country-rock and Bob Dylan-esque Midnight Surprise. The second album, instead, Life Is Sweet Nice to Meet You (2010), focused on piano-driven chamber-pop, with echoes of the musichall and of Queen (The Big Guns Of Highsmith, Middle of the Dark), echoing also the pop revival staged in the 1990s by Apples In Stereo and Neutral Milk Hotel (I don't to Wake up Alone).

Hynes' project evolved into Blood Orange, whose sound coalesced via Coastal Groves (2011) and Cupid Deluxe (2013). These are collections of lame, moronic, funk-soul ballads that hark back to mainstream pop and r'n'b of the 1980s (Sutphin Boulevard and Champagne Coast on the former, the jazzy seven-minute Chosen on the latter).

Lush production and smooth vocals remained his trademark on the next albums. The 17-song Freetown Sound (2016), more overtly sociopolitical, boasting collaborations with Carly Rae Jepsen, Nelly Furtado and Debbie Harry, contains the mellow chill-out jam Augustine and a duet with Honduran-American singer-songwriter Lorely Rodriguez (Empress Of), Best to You (finally a bit of energy).

The 16-song Negro Swan (Domino, 2018) is all devoted to tedious smooth ballads like Charcoal Baby, frequently interrupted by interludes and spoken sections.

Essex Honey (2025) marked a significant change in direction, with more sophisticated arrangements and important contributions by vocalist Caroline Polacheck. The most intriguing songs are the abstract psychedelic ambient music of I Can Go and Look at You. Somewhere in Between is a harmonica-tinged country-soul-pop-jazz hybrid. It is fascinating how the low-volume ticking of Thinking Clean erupts into loud jazzy drumming, all the while embellished by piano and cello. Then there's the exotic singalong I Listened and the dreamy lullaby Countryside with a simple metronomic beat-box. The Train and Field (a curious hybrid of African chant, Brazilian guitar, neoclassical cello and intricate quasi-trap beat) are slightly more energetic. Far from being a masterpiece, this is by far his most artistic work.