Frank Ocean surprises fans with visual album Endless

(Image credit: Eamonn McCormack/Getty Images)

published 19 August 2016

For over a year, fans of the critically acclaimed rapper Frank Ocean have anticipated a follow-up to his 2012 debut, Channel Orange. On Thursday night, Ocean surprised fans by releasing a visual album titled Endless — and perhaps most notably, it is not Boys Don't Cry, the album that had been teased for a July 2016 release by The New York Times.

Rather, Endless, which streams on Apple Music, is a 45-minute video and "the music plays as one continuous track," The Atlantic reports. Critics say it is worth settling in for:

A few very promising, full-fledged songs do emerge on first and second listen. One comes around the 19 minute mark with "Slide on Me," where an acoustic guitar and a laid-back but insistent beat support a sly come-on of a chorus. It sounds like a lonely beach party, though the hook could have worked for a club hit. Another showstopper is "Rushes," where snatches of gospel wailing add drama as the song heaves and swells with Frank Ocean at his most yearning. “I love the way you make me feel,” he mutters in its final moments.After a couple of spins, the album feels like a highly stylized, remarkably self-assured collection of odds and ends from someone of immense talent. But no doubt there's a lot more meaning to be mined with future listens. [The Atlantic]

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.