Album Review: Frank Ocean - Blond

It's easy to forget what the world was like before Frank Ocean. When OFWGKTA came to Sydney in early 2011, Ocean - months after releasing his exquisite debut nostalgia, ULTRA. - was nowhere to be seen. His absence barely registered. Such an understated response seems positively ludicrous these days.

Blond is memorable, truly. That's some achievement for an album that is so understated, so drumless, so quiet. This is a musical triumph not defined by searing, sweet pop hooks or big moments, but by the slow, incessant (sexual?) rhythms that pervade it. This is an album that doesn't try to define a moment in time, but a phase in our lives.

Nights is probably the standout with Ocean out-Draking Drake, taking sing-song rap to the logical conclusion he first flagged when appearing on Earl Sweatshirt's first record. And few moments of braggadocio can compare to Ocean on Nikes: "If you need dick, I got you." The thrill of Solo, and its Andre 3000-driven reprise, is another of the album's crowning achievements. Ocean, using precision and poignancy, outshines one of the biggest vocalists rap has ever seen. It's some achievement for a man who still struggles to shrug off his occasional moniker as an R&B guy.

This is not the buzzy, big theatrical piece we might have expected from Channel ORANGE Ocean. This is not the playful, precocious record we would have received from nostalgia, ULTRA. Ocean. Blond feels like a full realisation, a flower in bloom. The world has Frank Ocean in it, and it is a warmer, richer place for that. Bravo.