Blonde
In the four years between Frank Ocean’s debut album, *channel ORANGE*, and his second, *Blonde*, he had revealed some of his private life—he published a Tumblr post about having been in love with a man—but still remained as mysterious and skeptical towards fame as ever, teasing new music sporadically and then disappearing like a wisp on the wind. Behind great innovation, however, is a massive amount of work, and so when *Blonde* was released one day after a 24-hour, streaming performance art piece (*Endless*) and alongside a limited-edition magazine entitled *Boys Don’t Cry*, one could forgive him for being slippery. *Endless* was a visual album that featured the mundane beauty of Ocean woodworking in a studio, soundtracked by abstract and meandering ambient music. *Blonde* built on those ideas and imbued them with a little more form, taking a left-field, often minimalist approach to his breezy harmonies and ever-present narrative lyricism. His confidence was crucial to the risk of creating a big multimedia project for a sophomore album, but it also extended to his songwriting—his voice surer of itself (“Solo”), his willingness to excavate his weird impulses more prominent (“Good Guy,” “Pretty Sweet,” among others). Though *Blonde* packs 17 tracks into one quick hour, it’s a sprawling palette of ideas, a testament to the intelligence of flying one’s own artistic freak flag and trusting that audiences will meet you where you’re at. In this case, fans were enthusiastic enough for *Blonde* to rack up No. 1s on charts around the world.
Four years after the landmark Channel Orange, two new releases from Frank Ocean find him writing richly emotional songs for a quieter, more meditative space.
Blonde is at once both complicated and understated, invoking the very best of Channel Orange and rendering it even more fragmented and porous.
Frank Ocean doesn’t have all the answers, and ‘Blonde’’s brilliance comes from how content it is not knowing an absolute truth.
Frank Ocean's second album Blonde is a dignified, down-tempo celebration of taking all the damn time you need to get something done that's worth doing right.
"Pink + White," one of the standout tracks from Frank Ocean's latest album, Blonde, would have fit nicely on his last proper album, 2012's Channel Orange.
It’s usually the mark of a genuinely great album when, after almost twenty listens in, you’re still discovering new shades and hidden nuances
The singer’s new album has quality and poetry enough to raise it beyond its gimmicky release strategy
With its enigmatic beauty, intoxicating depth and intense emotion, the follow-up to Channel Orange is one of the most intriguing and contrary records ever made
For an album that arrived in a wave of hype and anticipation, Frank Ocean’s Blonde is a complex yet weirdly undemonstrative affair.