frank ocean | blond
Frank Ocean is laying the bricks of his legacy. Each song is a brick. The bricks are gold. Without much argument nor doubt, these bricks exist as intricately laid cobblestones leading Mr. Ocean to the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame of our hearts.
Blond. This album will win awards. If not a Grammy or two, then most certainly a place upon the mantelpiece of cherished memories. His music, the heartfelt lyrics and the luscious melodies of your favorite Frank Ocean songs linger. Frank’s songs touch upon not just familiar themes, but familiar emotions. They are exploratory in their honesty and density of truth. Blond has more in common with bodies of work reminiscent of What’s Going On (Marvin Gaye), Songs in the Key of Life (Stevie Wonder) and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (The Cure) or OK Computer (Radiohead) than with contemporary artists making music today. And above all the craftsmanship of Frank’s work is both substantive and relatable, and incredibly mundane in the most humanistic and provocative way.
Frank Ocean’s songs become our songs. The songs are where and when we need to hear them. Fuck a powdered line of this or a glassful of that, these songs are the remedy and the cure. Sweet potent words, and an ongoing body of work worth your while over and over again…Blond.
This album will win awards.
I am not going to get into the long four-year wait because ultimately it doesn’t matter. What does matter is the quality of the finished product and his latest release, Blond has plenty to get excited over and suss out. Songs of intricate beauty and sophisticated nuance. Songs draped in vulnerability, proclamations of struggle, accomplishment, fear and the much sought after compulsion to escape and dissect from a distance.
“Every night fucks every day up , every day patches the day up…”
It’s been two weeks and a day since Frank dropped his sophomore release on iTunes and as a fan, I am still coming down off of major euphoria. This is a great album with a wonderful collection of songs. And getting to know and discover each track is an exercise is both self-awareness and Mr. Ocean’s unique observation of the world he occupies. The material on this release is vastly different from what The Ocean has previously given. But to be fair so much of what Frank has released to date is divergent from and not easily paired with other material within his catalog. Yet, here I am trying to compare Nostalgia Ultra with the crazy, sexy and mature songs found on the Blond offering. Hey, it’s what I do.
The opening track Nikes is a lot of things all at once. It is a stereotypical depiction of certain members of the fairer sex as golddiggers delivered in the autotune trappings of a decade ago. It shamelessly references drug culture, yet it is also tender and mysterious. By the songs end though things morph into an illuminating metaphysical drug-induced existential tirade.
“Let you guys prophesize. Let you guys prophesize, we gonna see the future first. Living sorta last night, feels like a past life. Speaking on it, don’t know what got into people. Devils be possessing homies, demons tryna body jump, why you think I’m this bitch wearing a fucking yamaka? Acid on me like the rain, weed crumbles in the glitter. Rain. Glitter. We lay it out on a square floor. But we ain’t turf no astro. Mesmerize how the strobe glow…”
But in the end, “It’s only awkward if you’re fucking him too…”
After I work through the songs, listening to some songs on repeat endlessly. I decide not to give a song by song breakdown. Because to me, this body of work will mean something else to you than it does to me. However, saying as much, my favorite tracks are, in no particular order: Nikes, Ivy, Pink + White, Solo, Nights, White Ferrari, Siegfreid, Godspeed and Futura Free.
“Mind over matter is magic, I do magic..”
About the song Nights, though. I love this song for all kinds of reasons. I enjoy how it is sorta like getting two songs in one. It shape-shifts into something else and ends up as an entirely different animal when all is said and done. Coolest beans. Peace.
Artist: Frank Ocean
Album: Blond
Featured Track: Nikes
iTunes
Blond Track Listing:
01 Nikes
02 Ivy
03 Pink + White
04 Be Yourself
05 Solo
06 Skyline To
07 Self Control
08 Good Guy
09 Nights
10 Solo (Reprise)
11 Pretty Sweet
12 Facebook Story
13 Close to You
14 White Ferrari
15 Siegfried
16 Godspeed
17 Futura Free