Written by Esme Johnson, produced by BLONDED
The album under review, is titled Blonde (stylised as Blond) by African American artist Frank Ocean, released in 2016 by Blonded (Beats 1 radio show and label company, conducted by Ocean).
The album was issued in two different versions: the physical version in magazines (like Boys Don’t Cry, Ocean’s zine magazine) given away in pop-up stores around the country; and the digital one on iTunes (which is the version in review).
In this project, he exhibits all his vulnerability through true life episodes and pop culture references, addressing various topics such as love, relationships, their repercussions and posthumous learning, self-esteem/hatred, drug addiction, mortality/immortality, mental health and depression, creating a deeply personal work, which for one reason or another, makes us feel what he experienced such is the rawness of it.
Production and instrumentally wise, the project was started at Electric Lady Studios, New York in 2013 (but was interrupted, after a writer’s block), later at Abbey Road Studios, London and Henson Recording Studios, Los Angeles.
It has the collaboration of several producers, arrangers, sound engineers and mixers, such as Frank Ocean himself, Om’Mas Keith (production in songs, such as “White Ferrari”, and arrangement on tracks, such as “Pretty Sweet”), James Blake (production in songs, such as “Solo”, and arrangement on tracks, such as “Godspeed”), Jonny Greenwood (string arrangement on “Seigfried”), among others; and instrumentalists, such as Beyoncé (additional vocals on “Pink + White”), Pharrell Williams (keyboards, drum programming and bass on “Pink + White”), Mars 1500 (keyboards on “Solo” and “Godspeed”), Fish (guitars on “Ivy”), London Symphony Orchestra (strings on “Seigfried”), among others.
Since the incrementation of several sections of bowed string, such as violins (like on “Pretty Sweet”) and cellos (like on “Self Control”), minimalist keyboards (on several tracks, such as “Skyline To” and “Seigfried”), high-pitched vocals, high layered vocal harmonies (due to the influence of Brian Wilson), plagal cadences (“Godspeed”), sampling (on “Close To You”, by using a Stevie Wonder audio), interpolation (on “White Ferrari”, by the extraction of the melody and line “Making each day of the year”, of a Beatles’ song entitled “Here, There and Everywhere”), and instruments that highlight the baroque, psychedelic and avant-garde sound of the 60’s and 70’s (influenced by various artists of these decades such as The Beatles, Beach Boys and Stevie Wonder), such as mellotron and Moog, we perceive the purpose of sonic exploration and challenges sought (for the much less percussion, which is generally, the core instrument of R&B/Hip Hop genres, distancing it from its conventionality) by Ocean, and, therefore, I can admit that it’s a differentiated album in the present times.
From this perspective, Blonde is a statement at the creative and introspective level, characterized by little conventionality (in this register), both in terms of instrumental composition, and in conceptual lyric terms.
In this prism, this impetus is soon evidenced through the title and album cover.
The appearance of the title written in french (“Blond”) on the cover, resulted in a great intrigue by various fans, having led to a series of interpretations (although never validated by Ocean): the representation of his bisexuality, being that “blond” represents the masculine aspect and “blonde” being the feminine one; reflection on his youth years, portrayed in the blond hair color of a child, which subsequently darkens (notable in “Pink + White” and “Ivy”); and the symbolism of being blond, that are considered to be thoughtless and carefree, associating this with themes on the album, such as immortality and youthful carelessness (notorious in “Futura Free”).
In this regard, it provides us with the motto for the personal and narrative elements of the entire album, walking through various themes.
Subjects, such as hedonistic materialism and human egocentrism (on “Nikes”), associated with Nike sneakers (with a reference to a cult of the 90s’ called Heaven’s Gate, who committed suicide while wearing Decades Nike), solitude (on “Solo”, of personal and loving nature, and “Solo (Reprise)”, associated with the loneliness felt in the music industry)), sex and fame (on “Futura Free”), digital revolution and its effect on interpersonal relationships (on “Facebook Story”), failed relationships provoked by inexperience and innocence in youth, which led to anguish and consequent learning of his being and sexuality (on tracks, such as “Ivy”, “Self Control” and “White Ferrari”), and sometimes through analogies (on “Seigfried”, in which he compares an old lover, to Seigfried, a figure of norse mythology , by their similar elegant physiognomy, and, long, flowing hair ), religious beliefs and spirituality (on “Godspeed”, in which he desires good luck and happiness, to an old lover, beginning a new journey), and the effect of drugs to these negative thoughts (on “Nights”, which, for me, is the best song on the album, because it is divided into two sections by a silence, which marks the half duration of the album, in a kind of conceptual music mutation: the first is accompanied by energetic electric guitars, in an aggressive and flashy mood, while in the second, it is slow and reflective, demonstrating negativity and clash, derived from a drug high), among others, give us a peak of Ocean’s world, and as listeners, we cannot say that we have not been entertained, whether we like it or not.
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