I don’t know if I can pinpoint favorite songs just yet, but I have favorite moments: the children’s choir at the end of “Pretty Sweet,” that gorgeous ’70s synth arrangement at the end of “Skyline To,” the line on “Self Control” where Frank sings, “I came to visit ’cause you see me like a UFO.” It’s gorgeous. When I saw that heavy list of contributors on Twitter, I expected something like The Life of Pablo or Coloring Book - chock-full of voices and diverse production - but it’s surprisingly not like that? Blonde has such a distinct, unifying sound, all watery keyboards and distorted guitars, and while there are dips into genre (the soul of “Pink + White,” the trip-hop-y “Close to You”), the record almost plays like one whole track. It’s the record you put on at the end of the party as people are drifting out the door. There’s a dreamy, introspective summertime sadness that blankets Blonde in particular, and now I’m thankful Frank released the record when he did, in mid-August. The specifics are for each of us to discover - probably in private, with a nug and mom on voicemail.Ĭills: Three years ago, Frank Ocean said that he was listening to The Beach Boys for inspiration, but I’m still surprised to hear those influences on Blonde and Endless. Profound and in-progress, perplexing and luxuriant, not in the least bit disposable, they lift us above the grimy everyday grabass and send us floating to a cosmos that’s less ugly and petty and exploitative, where it’s all a rush of feelings gradually taking shape as melodies and rhythms and smatterings of found and lost sounds. They’re unveiling artistic upside-downs that lure you in, yet are so mesmerizing that you want to stay the night. The result is that our major artists - virtually all of them African-American - are creating full-length albums that recall nothing less than ’60s/’70s auteur films, speaking in discrete, fresh idioms.
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And in its commercially constructed template, it is today’s best full-lengths are a hybrid of mixtape drift and artistic meditation, released whenever the hell.
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Aaron: Capitalist techspeak prophecy-fulfillment has repeatedly declared the album a relic, a fossil form.