In its totality, Blonde is a beautiful and unexpected reflection on the peculiar impact of those experiences. Everyday moments, small victories, and big heartbreaks become a mosaic of life experiences.

“What do you do? What’s your first memory? What’s the most amazing thing you’ve ever witnessed?” Ocean ends the album with a humble home recording, reiterating that line on “Pink + White:” This is life and mortality. “What’s your name?” the interviewer asks his friends. The last song-“Futura Free”-has a distorted structure similar to “Nights.” The song ends with a recording of local street noise and soft voices.

The sometimes-abrupt transitions demonstrate Ocean’s incredible musicianship, and mirror the transience of his thoughts. “White Ferrari” has a trance-like slow and heavy build, which resolves into Ocean’s singular voice accompanied by acoustic guitar. “Nights” has three distinct overtures strung together in the span of five minutes. But still, these songs are entirely different from their Channel Orange kin. “Nights” and “White Ferrari” feel like the Ocean that we know from Channel Orange the master of deeply cool and catchy tracks. Two songs stand out as ‘singles,’ although none were released from the album. It’s easy to lose the distinction between each song as hooks come in and fade, carry over to the next track, and reappear later on the album through some subconscious memory of the same sound. The gentle rhythms of keyboard, bass, guitar, birds chirping, and the grainy recordings of kids in a skatepark carry the listener seamlessly from one song to the next. Long sections of the album go by without a hint of drums. Be yourself and know that that’s good enough.” Each song is intimate and endearing, simultaneously drawing the listeners into themselves and into Ocean’s world. I’ll sleep between y’all, it’s nothing.” Then there’s “Be Yourself,” a funny and heartrending voicemail from the mother of a childhood friend of Ocean’s, telling the listener to “stop trying to be somebody else. Yung Lean’s chorus on “Self Control” is a quiet plea to a former lover: “Keep a place for me. Some of this is hard to hear, yet at the same time, entirely captivating. Ocean’s poetic phrases and layered instrumentation offer the listener an ambient reflection on the nature of life, loss, and personal growth. It doesn’t rush, yet there is emotional urgency in each note. “Summer’s not as long as it used to be, every day counts like crazy,” Ocean sings on “Skyline To,” an ambling anthem to long days quickly becoming shorter.īlonde is long and languid. There are a lot of truisms hidden in Blonde but those five words cover the essential tone of the album. “This is life and mortality,” Frank Ocean sings on “Pink + White,” the album’s third track. What did you do today? Did you listen to Frank Ocean?īlonde is wonderfully accessible and deceptively simple. Blonde is melancholy yet comforting, because it’s about life that keeps moving and people that keep going on with their days. When you’re sad, happy, lonely, or with loved ones. Catchy beats mixed throughout will get you pumped and over that hill, though.Ħ. Each song blends into the next so your cycling flow through traffic won’t be interrupted. This makes a solitary activity feel more special. Sexy and cool breakup albums are ideal for bringing people together.Ĥ. When you’re driving with your crush and you want to impress them with some chill vibes, but you can still talk (and probably make out later). Frank’s gentle and atmospheric melodies mix well with the nearby murmur of picnics, Frisbee, and slacklining.ģ. Maybe you all smoked a joint 30 minutes ago and it’s time for a nap. These are ideal tunes to listen to with your friends-you don’t have a lot to say to each other today, but are in a warm summer slump. With your good friends at a beach, park, or lake. This music makes you feel good if slightly melancholic, like you’re still cool even though that party was not.Ģ. Walking home alone after leaving a disappointing house party.

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