Blood Orange is the project of songwriter and producer Devonté Hynes. He’s produced and co-written songs for artists like Carly Rae Jepsen, Solange, HAIM, and ASAP Rocky, among others. He’s been releasing his own music as Blood Orange since 2011. In August 2018, he released his fourth Blood Orange album, Negro Swan, and in this episode, Dev breaks down how he made the song “Saint.” You’ll hear the original version of the track from 2015, as well as the layers and voices that were added over the months to create the final version that appears on the album.

Buy or stream “Saint” here, and watch the music video below. You can buy his album, Negro Swan on vinyl here.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Arthur Russell – Let’s Go Swimming (Puppy Surf Dub)
Guest vocalists on the song: Bea1991, Ava Rain, Aaron Maine (Porches), Adam Bainbridge (Kindness).
Jason Arce, saxophonist