Review Summary: Frank Ocean's latest record plays like passing daydreams, ones that seamlessly slip in and out of consciousness on long car rides.
In the four years since Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange, the lines between hip and hop and R&B have continued to blur- Rappers are “singing” (Auto-tune, sigh) while contemporary R&B artists are opting for a more thuggish delivery. Ocean’s newest release, Blonde, is content to further obscure our perception of a genre with an unexpected emphasis on surreal synth chords, lush guitar strumming, and echoed vocals.
The setting of these tracks is an intimate one, but not in the typical sense of sounding “live”- with its stream of conscious lyrics, and dreamlike echo of vocals, it’s as if the listener is swimming through Ocean’s thoughts. In contrast to the narrative structure of Channel Orange, tracks like “Pink and White” find Ocean collecting fading memories from past relationships, and assorting them into cryptic collages. He is more forward on “Ivy” when he exclaims, “I thought I was dreaming when you said you loved me;” the accompanying guitar bubbles and pops, conveying this moment of wonder.
The floaty nature of these reflective love songs is grounded by the more soulful, gospel numbers of the album. Whereas the hopeful tone of “Godspeed” follows its somber organ play, “Solo” juxtaposes this instrumentation with eccentric lyrics about drug use, with Ocean singing from several different perspectives. Whether he’s singing as himself, a crackhead, or just a guy trying to get by, the rock-bottom-desperation in Ocean’s voice is impossible to escape as preaches, “Inhale, inhale, that’s heaven."
Structurally, Blonde is scattered- songs can be quick to switch tones, go off on tangents, or drift into unexpected bridges. “Nights” seems more conventional on this nearly percussion-less album, with its ticking hi-hats and crisp backbeat, but glitches out in the verse as it interchanges stop-go guitars with what seems to be sampled xylophone(??). Ocean is more aggressive here as he raps the frustrations of man seeking solitude from the “every night ***, every day ***.” A brief moment of escape is sonically conveyed by an abrupt switch, in the last third of the track, to a tranquil atmosphere, where wandering piano follows Ocean’s contemplative mood.
Blonde plays like passing daydreams, ones that seamlessly slip in and out of consciousness on long car rides. Like Radiohead’s latest release, A Moon Shaped Pool, this album isn’t something you can pop on and listen to at any given time. The most rewarding listens are experienced in a reflective state, or while slightly distracted (working on a project, reading, taking a shower, drinking a cup of coffee with friends). For the hardcore fans that find themselves constantly annotating lyrics online, I leave you with some lines from “Seigfried” that’ve been cycling around in my head for about a week now-
Dreaming a thought that could dream about a thought
That could think of the dream that thought
That could think of dreaming and getting a glimmer of God
I be dreaming a dream in a thought
That could dream about a thought
That could think of dreaming a dream
-Andrew Larrea
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Source: http://www.blownspeakers.net/music/frank-ocean-blonde
