Frank Ocean's channel ORANGE was, within the context of a rap record, nigh on flawless. If one were to vaingloriously pick up on one niggling qualm with it, however, it'd surely be that there perhaps wasn't enough actual
rap on there from the honeycomb-throated crooner. Ocean last night dropped the 'tropical vibes' of this one
via his Tumblr – the very same site from which he issued
that TextEdit statement – and it signals a return to the spit. Yet where
his closest contemporaries may centralise their facetious attentions upon misogyny, and homophobia, and just a general gist of unpleasantness Blue Whale is as placid a lament as plausible. Lyrically enigmatic, Ocean's smooth rhymes of parasailing, pirate girls and beachside copulation lap up against a deep, soulful, and discernibly '90s backing ebb to create a lovelorn ambience. "I ain't supposed to show my love" he at one moment intones, his words gently undulating like a lonely buoy although Blue Whale once again beaches the burgeoning emotivity that continues to beat at the heart of Ocean's work.
Still impatiently awaiting further UK dates...
