When it first dropped as an independent release to Apple Music, Blonde made the singer a. But whether the heads of Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group Doug Morris and Stephen Cooper. That distance, naturally, leads to the ultimate sense of clarity that drives Blonde. Frank Ocean’s Blonde album is no longer an Apple Music exclusive. Frank Ocean’s ‘Blonde’ Album Heading for No. The vocal pitch on the latter two lines, too, is important because it once again represents Frank's ability to step outside of himself and ponder on his past.Įven the fleeting images of dilated eyes and floating clouds, the refrain of “ We got so familiar,” all speak to the emotional distance Frank Ocean achieved to be able to write and perform this song without breaking down. The lines “ I care for you still and I will forever / That was my part of the deal, honest” and later, with a vocal pitch, “ I'm sure we're taller in another dimension / You say we're small and not worth the mention” are so visceral and hyper-specific, there is no way Frank could have come to write them without having enough distance and clarity on his romantic situations. Despite being alone, Frank Ocean sounds at peace with himself. Frank Ocean does not sound defeated or wrung out he sounds fine. Even when the chords deepen on the hook, there’s a starched richness to them that keeps everything from becoming overwrought as Frank sings of hell on Earth. The chords are blown and wispy, the chirping sounds reminiscent of bird calls and still landscapes. Over the weekend we asked Ann Powers and Jason King to wrestle with Frank Oceans long-awaited follow-up.
It would have been easy for Frank to make the accompanying soundscape dire and dressed in depressed rags, but instead, there’s a stark purity to the music. Frank Oceans raw, bleeding, diaristic storytelling guides Blonde.
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Take “Solo,” which is a song about being bitterly alone and self-medicating to cope. Frank Ocean 'Blonde' 'Album Contributors', as listed in the free Boys Don't Cry magazine given out today at 188 Mulberry. For while sadness will always be sexy, Blonde is a lesson in keeping your head and staying in a clear place regardless of what is happening-or has happened-around you. On Blonde, Frank Ocean is as lucid as I am in this moment, despite the somber themes of the album. The record exists as a beacon of lucidity and could not exist if its author was not exercising agency over his emotions. In music, calmness exists as a primary mode for plenty of albums, but few are as clear-headed as Blonde.