Devonté Hynes – “Passing”

Devonté Hynes – “Passing”

Devonté Hynes, the man who records as Blood Orange, is a born collaborator, and he’s been on a real streak with that lately. In just the past few months, Hynes has worked with artists like Turnstile, Mykki Blanco, and Wet. And Hynes has also been scoring films, an inherently collaborative act. Hynes has done the music for movies like Queen & Slim and Mainstream, as well as the forthcoming Netflix film Passing. Today, he’s shared a song from the Passing soundtrack.

Passing, the directorial debut from the actor Rebecca Hall, stars Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga as two mixed-race women in the ’20s. Thompson’s character identifies as Black, while Negga’s character lives as a white woman. The movie is adapted from Nella Larsen’s 1929 Harlem Renaissance novel, and it’s considered to be one of this year’s awards contenders.

The piece “Passing” is a soft, jazz-inspired instrumental with slow, funereal horns ringing out over spare notes of piano. It’s easy to imagine this playing during an emotionally heavy moment. Below, listen to “Passing” and watch the trailer for the movie.

Passing is coming to Netflix 11/10. That some day, Hynes’ sountrack album is coming out on Lakeshore Records.

more from New Music