Frank Ocean - Blonde (2016)

On Friday, for the first time in four years, there was a new Frank Ocean album. Two days later, there was another one. Blond, the official follow-up to Ocean’s magnificent, bar-raising opus Channel Orange, is the album listeners have been anxiously anticipating after many delays and rumored release dates, and it’s ready to be unpacked. Led by the track “Nikes,” which arrived only hours before the album with a Tyrone Lebon-directed video, its expectations were somewhat diffused by the earlier release of the visual album and companion piece Endless. But the pressure was still on, brought on in part by the stellar debut but also by the colossal weight of hype; as Ocean noted in a Tumblr post after the release: “thank you all. Especially those of you who never let me forget I had to finish. Which is basically every one of ya’ll.”

A 17-track offering, Blond builds on Ocean’s reputation as a songwriter and auteur of the highest order, enlisting assistance from creatives across the musical spectrum. It's almost all material we've never heard, with a few reworked elements from some songs debuted in Munich a few years back thrown into the mix. There are shades of Orange in its diverse sonic palette, but it is unique with its own feel and flow. Now that you can finally dive in, here are some things to consider as you listen to Blond.

Tracklist:

01. Nikes (w. KOHH) (05:14)
02. Ivy (04:09)
03. Pink + White (w. Beyoncé) (03:04)
04. Be Yourself (01:26)
05. Solo (04:17)
06. Skyline To (w. Kendrick Lamar) (03:04)
07. Self Control (w. Yung Lean) (04:09)
08. Good Guy (01:06)
09. Nights (05:07)
10. Solo (Reprise) (w. Andre 3000) (01:18)
11. Pretty Sweet (02:38)
12. Facebook Story (w. SebAstian) (01:08)
13. Close to You (01:25)
14. White Ferrari (04:08)
15. Seigfried (05:34)
16. Godspeed (w. Kim Burrell) (02:57)
17. Futura Free (09:24)