Frank Ocean - channel ORANGE Review

There was something intensely annoying regarding Frank Ocean’s mixtape nostalgia, ULTRA. The obvious answer was the pretty cheap move of Ocean simply singing over well established songs with lyrics that either didn’t suit them or the fact that singing over something like Hotel California without it being, you know, Hotel California was, well…annoying to the senses.

Needless to say, these instances are absent on Ocean’s channel ORANGE (complete with more stylised lower case-CAPS LOCK lettering) and the album is the perfect showcase of Ocean’s large repertoire of talents.

channel ORANGE can easily be viewed as a concept album with the protagonist simply channel surfing. Although each song offers something different, the album flows together nicely and despite the running time being nearly an hour; it flies by.

Part of this stems from the tracks being relatively short and sweet (the main exception being the album centre piece Pyramids). They never outstay their welcome and don’t go into the RnB trope of having an extended outro with no purpose whatsoever.

The tracks themselves vary from different perspectives and offer a wide variety of subject matter. While something like Super Rich Kids offers an almost dystopian look at the cultural and fiscal greed of youth with the same regard as Bret Easton Ellis’ Less Than Zero, Bad Religion in the meanwhile; is a three minute cab ride from hell with Ocean lamenting on a need for self-confession with a non appreciative driver.

In line with Ocean’s revelation/advertising campaign of declaring his bisexuality, Forrest Gump is simple love song to the man of his dreams and while collaborations are kept to a minimum on the album; Pink Matter with Outkast’s Andre 3000 is a broody, dark monster with vivid imagery of comparing a vagina with...and I kid you not; Dragon Ball Z's demonic, pink, god killer; Majin Buu.

Of course the best song on the album and a shoe-in for one of the best of the year is Pyramids; a nine minute journey that starts off slow, using obvious references to Ancient Egypt and Cleopatra for lyrics but progressively adds more depth, whether it’s more of a beat or more synths before the song dramatically changes midway through.

Almost as a passage of time, the Ancient Egypt of before is now nothing more than a seedy, luminous nightclub and Cleopatra becomes a certified stripper. Add the only extended outro on the album as a minimal yet satisfying guitar riff and it’s near perfect.

While Pyramids is the highlight of the album, channel ORANGE consistently has good vocal performances, some truly elaborate and amusing one liners sprinkled throughout which vary from simple descriptions of titillation to more in-depth and borderline schizophrenic phrases that require a couple of listens to really absorb.

But above all else; the album never loses momentum nor gets overwhelmed by its own hype. It’s very introverted at times and self reflective and, although it does have it’s odd moments of venturing to familiar territory for the genre in terms of lyrics and production value; it does have a freshness and charm from the often stagnant and generic genre.

There’s an undeniable brash outer shell to channel ORANGE, but it’s the well crafted and vulnerable underbelly that offers the album’s quiet and undeniably more interesting moments that no other record of 2012 has quite managed to encapsulate.

Vigorous, witty, charming but at times; moody, frustrated and laced with ambiguity; channel ORANGE is a spectacular debut that cements Frank Ocean as one of music’s best new talents.

One that 2012 really, really needed.

8/10

H

@retcon_nation