blonde at 10

take a deep breath, hold my hand, and try not to freak out when i say this… frank ocean isn’t coming back. at least not in the way we know him. yesterday marked the 10 year anniversary of frank ocean’s sophomore album (because ‘endless’ isn’t really a proper album) blonde. this album came at such a poignant moment in so many peoples’ lives, during a summer which for a myriad of reasons people will always remember as being brilliant, and just a few months before the seismic election of donald trump. 2016 was a year that sticks out from the rest. it was just different. for me, it was that summer after school exams in which the word ‘responsibility’ loses all meaning, leaving a vacuum for the joys of adolescence to creep in- one of which being music.

maybe not surprisingly, frank ocean wasn’t exactly on my radar as a teenager growing up in london, and the musings on human existence, relationships and aging from a man over 5,000 miles away in california didn’t quite chime with my own emotions in the way i’m sure they did for others. but that didn’t stop blonde becoming an album i just couldn’t put down. on it, frank ocean managed to do something very few albums since have in building an entire microcosm within the walls of a tracklist. every song on blonde sounds vastly different to one another, they’re often about different topics, use different production styles and borrow from different genres, but they all exist and make sense together. that’s why blonde is the listening experience it is; you aren’t welcoming an album into your world, you’re being transported to another one. and maybe that’s why that teenager in london, and so many others across the globe, have such a special relationship with it.

zane lowe put it excellently when he discussed blonde’s 10th anniversary on his apple music show yesterday, pointing not just to the album itself but the personal contexts that surround it. urging listeners to reflect on the past 10 years through the lens of the album, the people, places and things which were there when it was released and where they are now. one of those things is the artist who released the album. frank ocean as the visible, label-screwing, music maverick that we once knew doesn’t exist anymore, replaced by an artist tinged by grief, public pressure and a lengthy music hiatus. i’m not saying frank ocean will never release music again, he probably will, but it won’t be the frank ocean who made blonde, nor should it be. that frank ocean is gone, and he shouldn’t be mourned- he should be celebrated. and so, in the spirit of zane lowe’s poignant words, a reflection on my own experiences with this album, and in celebration of one of the greatest albums of the 21st century, here are some of my favourite moments of frank ocean’s blonde.

it’s hard to not write about every single song on blonde in doing this, but that article would be 10 pages long and nobody has that kind of attention span these days. and so, as incredible an intro nikes and ivy make, the first moment that really blows me away on this album is pink + white.

for a long time, this track was a standout because of the production. strings so luscious you could sleep upon them, backing vocals that actually sound angelic, and one of the best bass lines in living memory (a special shoutout to the bass lick after “kiss the earth that birthed you, gave you tools just to stay alive” which will forever be ingrained in my consciousness). but it was only more recently that i began to appreciate this song equally for frank’s incredible lyrics. this track is such a beautiful expression of love, joy and its interweaving with the natural world.

skyline to is such an underrated gem on blonde. maybe because it’s wedged between two heavyweights in solo and self control, i feel like it never gets the love it deserves. but in skyline to, i think we get some of frank’s best vocal work on the entire album. the intermission between half spoken half rapped and sung lines, the soaring backing vocals and the chanted ad libs make for a listening experience that even 10 years later, never gets old.

it’s impossible to talk about blonde without mentioning about this song. in fact, to take it one step further, i think it’s impossible to talk about music in the 21st century without mentioning this song. undoubtedly the best track on the album, and in my opinion frank’s greatest to date.

nights isn’t the albums most grandiose thematically. whilst other songs tackle deeply with human nature and existence, nights paints a very real, very relatable image of life as a young person experiencing modern relationships. but it’s that realism, the depiction of a story and scenes which are so tangible, that makes it so good. the first half of this track has one of the strongest vocal melodies anyone has ever written, so much so that i think it is physically impossible to not sing along to. it’s strong, it has momentum, and it’s equally beautiful and minimised.

but then we get to the moment. halfway through the song, exactly halfway through the entire albums runtime (i don’t even want to think too deeply about how meticulously crafted this album must be*) we get what is now an iconic crescendo into a complete change in scenery, sonic foundation and melody. absolute, pure and obvious genius.

*it’s even more frightening to think just how crafted blonde when you consider frank was also simultaneously making a throwaways album endless to escape his record deal with def jam during this period.

the final moment i want to mention on blonde (to the behest of the percfectly written godspeed, the mesmerising seigfried, and the forever bafflingly clever and moving futura free, whose celebration must all wait) is pretty sweet.

and whilst my praise for other songs has come from a deep love for the instrumentation choices, or an affection for frank’s turn of phrase, or an indescribable feeling or emotional movement when listening, my love for pretty sweet is much more tactile. it’s simply because those drums are awesome. anyone who loves frank ocean and who loves electronic, dance or drum and bass music will be able to tell you that pretty sweet is a match made in heaven. i don’t feel necessarily moved when i listen to it, it doesn’t particularly remind me of a time in my life or a person or thing, but i do want to dance, and that counts for a lot.

and that’s it. blonde is 10. take this moment to enjoy the album, allow yourself to reminisce, and enjoy one of the greatest albums you’ll ever hear sounding just as fresh and relevant as it did in 2016. see you all again in 2036 for the 20th.