Freetown Sound is as global as the man himself. Hynes is Sierra Leonean-Guyanese Londoner who now lives in New York City. The instrumentation, mixed with the strongly messaged lyrics, bridges the diaspora worldwide. "You are special in your own way," he sings in "But You".
The opening track "By Ourselves" features a powerful poem by Ashlee Haze. Some tracks melt seamlessly into each other like "Chance" and "Best to You". Tracks like "Hadron Collider" are more fit for a theatrical soundtrack. Problem is, the album is theatre.
Hynes, who has synesthesia, took the sensory details and production to another level. When I listen to the album I feel the sun and the beach. It's well into sunset and the air is cooling down. You know that moment when the sun is orange and the clouds are a pinkish lavender? This is it.
Freetown Sound is freedom pop. Hynes' masters the collaborations, integrating them into the sound of the album effortlessly. The album features Ava Rain, Empress Of, Nelly Furtado, and more. The album is also more cohesive than the previous "Cupid Deluxe", but it also has its own type of narrative. It's a late 80s TV-show set in Harlem.
The album speaks to Hyne's own personal problems as a queer Black male in America. Not too long ago, he was profiled and harassed by security at a music festival. Hynes also feels the weight of police brutality, even making a song for Sandra Bland - "Sandra Smiles". He performed a concert in New York, with proceeds going to a music program at a Harlem school.
Freetown Sound is an early morning in Harlem at its peak. Freetown Sound is a novel, a poetry collection, written in 24 consecutive late nights at 3AM - or that's what it sounds like. It sounds like something one would pen when they feel the most vulnerable.
As a Black person listening to the album during these rough times - it feels like it was made for me. The smooth sounds are calming before bed, on buses, and walking around the city.
It's been a long week. I, like many other Black folks across the country, have lost so much sleep dealing with more names adding to the list of Black people extrajudicially murdered by the police. The names Alton Sterling and Philando Castile are not etched into the nation's history. But, for those of us paying attention, we've also seen brutality in Dallas and Atlanta and other places across the nation. This proves traumatic as many of us question, when will this stop? Many of us watched unrest unfold via Periscope in August 2014. Two years later, the rights of Black people are threatened more with a stripped Voters Rights Act, and Blue Lives Matter laws protecting police around the nation. Even our own Black President signed a federal law protecting law enforcement through the creation of a watchlist. Unfortunately, the same type of energy isn't afforded to protecting the due process of Black Americans. Where Black leadership isn't able to offer any affirmation, art does. Freetown Sound reminds us, "We gon be alright!".
As I listen to Freetown Sound, I am taken to a better place. A place where kids sit on the porch eating freeze pops in the summer sun. I'm taken to a beach right before dusk, letting the water rush over my feet one last time before it closes. I'm at a block party, grabbing the last fruit punch from the cooler. The album is clearly Black; the words speaking power to truth, from beginning to end.
View the videos "Augustine" (feat Ava Rain) and "Sandra's Smile" below