Back in 2012, the discovery that Blood Orange (aka Dev Hynes) produced and co-wrote Solange’s landmark EP True, helped to re-position Hynes, who’d achieved previous but brief successes with Test Icicles and as Lightspeed Champion, as an in-demand songwriter. Now another album credit on Hynes and Knowles’ records is helping to shine a light on another promising talent, John Carroll Kirby.
With the release of “Socotra” this morning, Kirby has announced his debut album, Travel. You can hear the song above.
Named for a remote archipelago in the Arabian Sea, “Socotra” is a brief but satisfying escape to a warm island paradise, with hazy synths and a delicate pan flute make the song’s near five minutes an ideal place to kick back. Kirby’s voice is heavily treated, prioritizing the song’s mood over message.
Kirby has production credits on A Seat At The Table cuts “Interlude: For Us by Us,” “Junie” and “Interlude: No Limits,” and played synths on a number of songs including the gorgeous “Cranes In The Sky.” He also played in Blood Orange and can be heard on the project’s latest album, Freetown Sound.
Travel is out on 10/27, you can preorder it here. The album’s tracklist is below.
