Review
Genre and Mood
Solange found her own voice on Losing You, a track that mixes R&B, indie pop and eighties-tinged synth-pop. Its mood is bittersweet, groovy and full of longing: a break-up song that somehow makes you want to move. It sounds effortless, but every detail is placed with care.
Song Summary
The song is about a relationship slipping away and the painful clarity of knowing it is over. Solange’s voice is light and intimate, almost conversational, as she asks what she is still holding on to. She described it herself as “eclectic with ’80s references and African percussion influences”: the production is airy and skittering, with crisp drums, bright synths, handclaps and a bouncing bass, and that upbeat energy against the sad subject is the song’s genius. The Los Angeles Times heard “the sort of snappy, relaxed groove that sounds as if it had been unearthed from a dusty ’80s jukebox”.
Musical Breakdown
The track moves with the grace of a classic pop single, building its groove patiently.
Intro
Skittering percussion and shimmering synths open the song, setting an airy, mid-tempo groove.
Verse 1
Solange’s voice enters soft and close, describing the slow end of the relationship with quiet honesty.
Chorus
The hook brightens with layered vocals and a fuller beat, the repeated question about losing you becoming catchy and aching at once.
Bridge
The arrangement opens into a more reflective moment, the synths and voice floating before the groove returns.
Outro
The track rides its groove out with ad-libs and layered vocals, fading gently.
Concepts in Focus
The retro colour of Losing You comes from the synthesizer. NME noted that the track “rests upon the synths of an OMD classic” alongside R&B handclaps and harmonies, and Spin heard a fusion of singer-centred R&B, 1980s pop and “lanky, mid-tempo hip house beats”. Listen to how the synth parts are bright and simple, closer to the 1980s than to 2012, while the voice stays modern and understated; the contrast keeps it from sounding like a copy.
The music video by Melina Matsoukas is as much a part of the song’s identity as the sound. It was planned for Brazzaville as a tribute to La Sape, the elegantly dressed sapeurs photographed by Daniele Tamagni in Gentlemen of Bacongo, and was moved to Cape Town, where it was shot in the township of Langa in September 2012. Solange called the result “documentary style”: she dances and sings in kitchens, barbershops and a tailor’s shop, rides a minibus taxi and a bicycle and swims in a community pool. The clip premiered on Pitchfork on 1 October 2012, a day before the single.
Artistic Context
After her 1960s- and 1970s-influenced album Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams (2008), Solange left Interscope Geffen A&M in 2009 to take a more independent route, experimenting with a moody, electronic sound. Losing You, written and produced with Dev Hynes, then recording as Blood Orange, was released for download on 2 October 2012 as the lead single from her EP True on Terrible Records, the label co-run by Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor.
Impact and Reception
The song was widely acclaimed: Pitchfork named it the 16th best song of 2012, it was seventh in the Village Voice’s Pazz & Jop critics’ poll, and Spin and The Huffington Post put it among the songs of the year. It reached the top ten in Denmark and number 22 on the UK Indie Chart. It is often seen as the moment Solange stepped out as an artist with her own distinct identity, on the path to her later albums. It is here for its rare ability to make sadness feel light. Let it play and dance anyway.
