7. Frank Ocean. Channel Orange
"A tornado flew around my room before you came
Excuse the mess it made, it usually doesn't rain
In Southern California, much like Arizona
My eyes don't shed tears, but, boy, they bawl"
Pretty much the undisputed critical champion of 2012. Sometimes listening to Channel Orange it's easy to drift into the mindset of how clinical it all sounds. The hooks are there, the samples, lyrics, Frank's voice. It makes you almost wonder why others don't look at their output, dissecting it to the individual elements.
But that's when you realise, they do (to their capacities). For Ocean it comes across as effortless as it is. This is a multi-talented songwriter capable of feats hinted at in his previous effort, Nostalgic Ultra. What sets him apart is an innate ability to convey a state of mind, set of emotions without ever coming across as preachy but endearing.
Exhibit A: "Mango, peaches, and lime... Why see the world when you got the beach?"
This is due to him (seemingly) being a down to earth wild card. Nothing given to him with an instant success that can send one stratospheric in the matter of brief moments.
The album is full of these 'exhibits', see Bad Religion and Pyramids as just 2 of these examples.
I hope the attention that the inevitable Grammy landslide doesn't set him too far off track. Although how do you capture lightening in a bottle twice?
He's talented enough for us grateful listeners to hang around to wait and see in giddy anticipation.
Recycle this: Bad Religion, Pyramids, Thinkin Bout You
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