“Queen & Slim,” the film, traffics in sudden tragedy and symbolic terror as it portrays the violence of self-defense and self-awareness in stark, painful terms. It deserves an equally audacious score and soundtrack, a job that has gone to another Devonté Hynes, the British singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer and director in his guise of Blood Orange.

Hynes has been known for his other musical projects, the punky Test Icicles and the dreamy Lightspeed Champion. But as Blood Orange, Hynes has found himself at the axis of abstract soul and ambient electronic pop with a lyrical edge that is as deeply emotional as it is bracingly inventive. Plus, in the last several years, Orange has been in the pink of top-tier production and writing assignments for the likes of Mariah Carey, Solange, Mac Miller, Fka Twigs, Haim, Florence and the Machine, Carly Rae Jepsen, Kylie Minogue and Blondie. He’s...