Frank Ocean held a very exclusive listening session Thursday in NYC at KMA Studios, as he previewed tracks off his highly-anticipated debut album, Channel Orange, due July 17. Among previously heard tracks such as “Thinking About You,” the 10-minute long “Pyramids,” “Forrest Gump” and “Voodoo,” Ocean also revealed a super exciting feature from Andre 3000 on a song called “Pleasure.” AOL’s The Boombox were in attendance and shared some insightful details into the LP.
Read their description below…
With Channel Orange, due July 17, the Odd Future crooner delivers more than just a solid record; he’s a storytelling genius on the LP, a quality that has been missing from many new artists. The tracks are pulled together by experimental interludes including video game sound effects, dialogues and planes taking off and crashing.
The album borrows from a mixture of genres, with elements of jazz, rock and electro sprinkled throughout the R&B-centric songs. There’s also ranges in tempo, incorporating a sometimes heavy and cold feel but at other times a warming effect. Ocean’s voice smoothly crusades along the tracks into a deep, soulful fantasy world, conjured up from his own wondering mind.
Once inside this sphere, Ocean takes on topics of love, alienation, drug use, religion and philosophy, similar to his Nostalgia, Ultra mixtape, released in February 2011. But this time, he adds bang and boost to the sounds with live instrumentation that accompany his lyrics. Ocean’s words are full of vivid imagery, which also serve as a mirror to reflect society’s beauty and flaws.
On “Super Rich Kids,” led in by a piano, he highlights absentee parents who allow money to raise their children. “The maids come around too much/ Parents never come around often enough,” the New Orleans native sings.
Throughout the album, Frank Ocean gives a view of conflict and sorrow, never concealing his own vulnerability in not knowing all the answers to his problems.
During the Andre 3000-assisted, down-tempo track “Pleasure,” he ponders, “What if the stars and skies are a show/ And the aliens are watching live?”
It’s this visual irony that allows Ocean to create songwriting that transforms listeners’ encounters with drab daily news, reality and heartbreak into audible refreshments.
“Thinking About You,” the 10-minute long “Pyramids,” “Forrest Gump” and “Voodoo,” all tracks either previously released or those he previewed for fans while on tour, will also be on the album. However, there are many more unreleased goods that round out the impressible opus.
Frank will kick off his official “Channel Orange” Tour on July 13 in Seattle, and travel across the US and Canada, with possible more dates to follow. See the current tour schedule here.
