bringbackjojivlogs1-blog

[bringbackjojivlogs1-blog]

Blond is Frank Ocean's fourth album releasing just days after he released the apple music exclusive Endless. Frank is often noted as by other popular artists such as A$AP Rocky, as "finessing the music industry" by releasing a fakeout album before he released the masterpiece that is now well known as Blond. Frank's deceit and scam towards his record label are interesting but that's a topic for another blog post. Right now, I am going to enlighten your understanding of music as you know it with this masterpiece of an album.

          Starting off the album strong is the first track Nikes which I can only describe as a piece of trippy distortion music that echos as the pitched-up vocals. Listening to this song feels like your listening through a fog or pillow covering your ears, with a heavy kick drum and soft synths in the back. It's a great first track and really sets the tone of the album, as a laidback, chill and melancholic album. In the song, Frank also talks about topics like material objects, and how needy people can be, saying how everyone wants "nikes". The second track on the album Ivy, we hear franks natural voice as he sings over distorted guitar chords and muffled piano rifts. This song already hits hard, as it has a feeling of nostalgia and disbelief. Overall its a solids track and it reminds me of like a Christmas that once happened but the full details are not clear. Pink + White is the third track on the album that is also another amazing track. The piano hook is absolutely wonderful along with the beautiful lyrics, this is one of those songs you would find yourself humming to at a random time of day. The entire theme of the songs feels like a summer sunset where you stare at the sky, lost in the wonder and peacefulness as the sky turns pink and white. This track is definitely an album standout and deserves more attention than it already has.      The next track is an interlude that bridges the first quarter of the album to the next sections. In it, it is a voice mail of Frank's mother warning him of the dangers of drugs the dangers of following others, with the main theme of being yourself. Solo is the next track which I really like, as it invokes feelings of loneliness, hence the title "Solo" It is a great track and deserves to be a standout track in my opinion, and it is a song I often come back to listen to. There is not much else to say about this track other than it's just really relatable and perfectly captures how it feels to be by yourself. The next track following is Skyline To, which is a perfect bridge between the previous song.  This song isn't a standout song like the previous 4 songs excluding the interlude, but it still makes me feel as if it was a summer afternoon or something. This song is typically not a song you would show a first-time Frank Ocean listener. The next track is Self Control which is a song where Frank describes a failing relationship due to immaturity. Me personally, this song reminds me of a childhood crush, someone who I was friends with along time ago, but we happened to grow up and grow away from each other. Self Control is another excellent song that stirs emotions perfectly, creating another perfect melancholic track.

                    The next interlude puts the album at the halfway mark. The title is Good Guy and its where Frank describes his meeting with a guy that he liked. There is nothing much else to say about this song besides the fact that it sounds like a pretty poem. The next Track is a popular standout song Nights, where at the beginning there is an upbeat exciting tone. At first, Nights feels like a feel-good song, a song where I can imagine listening to this song while driving on a sunny day, but that all quickly changes once the classic Frank Ocean beat switch comes on. After the sudden but smooth as butter transition, the song instantly changes into something much more darker, as the sunny afternoon drive transforms into a late-night 2AM drive. With a more mellow, darker beat, the son is very versatile and could be listened to in multiple contexts. This is a reason why this song is definitely a highlight of the album, as it is a go-to Frank Ocean song for whenever the aux chord is being handed to you. Solo (reprise) is the next song after Nights, and it features Andre 3000 as the main voice of the song. It is a refreshing sound to hear hard and satisfying bars in an album full of ballads and mellow songs. It serves as a really good palette cleanser for the album, while not disrupting the flow or theme of the album. Not to forget Andre's phenomenal hard verse as well, really solidifies this track. Pretty Sweet is the next song that comes next. At first, listen, this track sounds extremely abstract and strange than any other track in the album. It first begins with a loud overwhelming burst of random noises which discombobulates me until the track breaks out into many choral type melodies, accompanied by echoed harmonies. It's hard to describe this song, as I can only imagine it as a trippy "church" type beat.       As the third interlude Facebook Story comes next, it begins to mark the final stretch of the album. This track follows what appears to be a Frenchman telling a story about his ex, and how he never added her back on facebook. The story is quite depressing and sad, especially in a world so consumed by social media where face to face interactions are dwindling, it really prepares listeners of what to expect and feel during the last moments of the album. Close to you is the next song after the interlude that isn't exactly a standout song but its the type of song you'd listen to alone in your room just vibing. It feels futuristic and sophisticated, but normal enough that it invokes relatable emotions. Nothing else can be said about it except that Stevie Wonder's voicebox remix of this song can be heard near the end, which adds a nice little touch. The next song is White Ferrari, which I would consider a standout in the album as well. It's a heavy hitter. The vocals, lyrics, tone, atmosphere that this song creates is extraordinary and is so heartbreaking and sad it feels impossible. I remember the first time I listened to this song, I was just overwhelmed with uncontrollable sadness that I could not explain, but for whatever reason, I just felt an immense sense of pain. This song is definitely a Frank Ocean bucket list song, that is extremely underrated. Siegfried is the next song. It's a pretty okay song, as nothing crazy is there. Seigfried is a bit of a weak patch within the album, as it sounds very filler, but the song still maintains the atmosphere and theme of the album, but it does so in a plain and somewhat uninteresting way. For whatever strange reason, this song reminds me of a plane ride back from a long vacation. I can't explain why it feels like this, but it just does. Godspeed is the next track, which is also another pretty good song. I absolutely love the tension and suspense the beginning of the song builds as if it finally blesses us with Frank's voice. It's has a very fitting theme by wishing us godspeed as the album comes to a close. Again, it makes me feel sad and depressed, like the time where I graduated from elementary school and saying goodbye to all my friends. This song is the ultimate goodbye song and it definitely will come in handy as my own high school career comes to an end as well. The final song is a 10-minute track labeled Futura Tree. The beginning of the song shows Frank showing off his accomplishments to his mother as he raps over a progressing beat. The beat then develops into a more traditional hip-hop beat where Frank continues his bars. The song finishes with what appears to be some kind of interview with a kid. It's quite nostalgic as it reminds me of homemade school video projects that I would make. It's a very passive way to end the album as it encaptures the final emotions that are felt when things are over. It's sad, but it's a kind of sad that you're okay with.