Captivating our hearts and ears since 2011, Frank Ocean has provided his fans with another album to recite for the next four years while we wait impatiently for another. On August 20, 2016 the world rejoiced in knowing they were not being teased any longer with the speculation about a new Frank Ocean album, with Blond—an ITunes exclusive album.
As one of the greats in the pop and R&B genres of the music industry of today, Ocean set a standard for himself with his 2012 album Channel Orange. At first glance, Blond is a melancholy piece in comparison. Listening through a few times—which I definitely have done already—reveals a different foundation for the album than the latter; a sound representative of someone who experiencing the world through its ups and shortcomings, and is dealing with and sharing the reality with the world. Blond’s first track, “Nikes,” is one of those songs you feel like you could probably cry to, plus about 30 seconds worth of a nod to the newest, auto tuned rap styles. With a shout out to Trayvon Martin and beautifully illustrated critiques of our society’s flaws and misplacement of priorities, he sets the stage for the tone of the entire album. This being the first song and sounding so different than Ocean’s past albums from the first seconds of the track is important. He lets his audience know he is not one to create works of art that are similar and this is your chance to forget all about expectations. There will only be one Channel Orange and only one Nostalgia Ultra—both based upon Frank Ocean’s life and feelings during those individual times.
And then comes “Ivy,” which is a melodic tune that plays a love story in your head while you listen. The hypnotic stringing in the background hits you in the feels and puts you in a trance, almost reliving the feelings of falling in love that are clearly put into the creation of the song.
I will go ahead and issue a spoiler alert for those who have not listened to the album through quite yet. The “Solo (Reprise)" is the song we were all waiting for. There are no apparent features, based on the song titles in this album, but this surprise feature—or rather, takeover—was what we have been waiting for since “Pink Matter.” I imagine Ocean and 3000 sitting in a room laughing about the distress they both give us as fans while we fantasize about more music from the pair.
In “Solo,” it feels like Frank is taking us to church; starting with an introductory organ and some preemptive lines indicative of poetry that soon morph into a truly heavenly performance, accompanied by a very subtle choir. Now, that’s a church I can get into.
The following song, “Skyline To” is truly a trance-inducing song. A mixture of what feels like a personal serenade with an extraterrestrial sounding instrument, providing a different world for the listener—something Ocean does quite well.
Overall, this album reveals the new experiences, emotions and progression of Frank Ocean as well as ourselves. Now we basically have an album for each type of mood we could be in, courtesy of the only voice people are okay with waiting this long to hear. I don't know if I've ever experienced better road trip music than this. Thank you, Frank. We can’t wait to pester you until the next album.
