Is this song old enough to be classed as a 'Flashback'? When creating this section of the blog, I made a guideline rule that all of the posts in this section had to have been released over a year prior to me typing this (aka. pre-22nd Feb 2012). Alas, this falls a tad short with a release date of April 17th 2012, but due to a post that I will be putting up shortly, I feel that to throw out a real blast from the past would be a tad ironic.
Channel Orange, the everywhere-acclaimed album by rapper/singer Frank Ocean has been my turn-to lullaby for the past week or so (Jamie Woon once held the prestigious title), but with Tame Impala's Lonerism losing its sleepy-time sparkle, I dug out this album and - fell in love with it. I originally downloaded Channel Orange after it topped many a 2012 year's end poll, and as a general music fan, I had to see what all the fuss was about. With my only prior knowledge of Frank Ocean being that he was a member of the infamy inducing rap troupe Odd Future(Wolf Gang Kill Them All)/OFWGKTA, and with interweb denizens kicking up a fuss over the fact that a bisexual rapper could exist - even in this day and age, it is fair to say that Channel Orange was not what I expected.
First of all, it was subtle, and nowhere near as affronting or in your face as Odd Future or Tyler the Creator's music has been. Second, it was impeccably stylish and atmospheric, down to the very last detail, mixing R'n'B with movie soundscapes, creative lyrical metaphors and references to Cleopatra. You've more than likely been exposed to some of Ocean's songs already. My favourite though, along with the epic 10 minute anthem, 'Pyramids', has to be the beautiful and delicate 'Thinkin' Bout You'. The song lulls mystically through 3-and-a-half minutes of raw emotion, love longing and loss. It really is beautiful, and manages to draw the listener in so close that they may share Frank Ocean's feelings with him as if they were their own.
