A brand new album from Frank Ocean may finally be on the way.
Earlier this week, music’s answer to Daniel Day-Lewis (low output, god-tier quality, constant love from Rolling Stone) wiped his Instagram account clean, deleting every single post and sending online speculation into overdrive.
As you can imagine, the primary assumption about this action was – and continues to be – another studio album, six years after Ocean released the masterpiece that is Blonde.
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Additionally, it’s worth noting the enigmatic songbird of our generation is set to headline Coachella in April 2023, meaning he’ll probably want to unveil some new music ahead of the momentous occasion. That is, assuming the fella actually shows up.
While Frank Ocean himself (real name: Christopher Edwin Breaux) has yet to confirm anything is in active development, nor will he until the aural pleasure reaches our very ears, this would effectively mark his third studio album.
Here’s everything we know about what could be coming.
Frank Ocean New Album: Everything We Know So Far
Has Frank Ocean been in the studio?
Between launching his luxe lifestyle brand Homer – which is currently slinging $25,000 diamanté cock rings – and gearing up for a potential directorial debut in collaboration with indie powerhouse A24, Frank Ocean has actually made time to produce new music.
Since the world was gifted Blonde, there’s been a handful of singles: ‘Biking’ ft. JAY-Z & Tyler, the Creator, ‘Lens’, ‘Moon River’, ‘DHL’, ‘In My Room’, ‘Dear April’, and ‘Cayendo.’ He’s also appeared on the likes of ‘Slide’ by Calvin Harris alongside Migos, hip-hop dons A$AP Mob’s ‘Raf’, as well as reunited with fellow Odd Future alum Tyler, the Creator for ‘911 / Mr Lonely.’
Hints of creative direction?
Back in July, on the same day Channel Orange celebrated its 10th anniversary, Frank Ocean surprised his dedicated yet perennially content-starved fans with a few morsels of new music, which was embedded within two episodes of his Blonded Radio Apple Music 1 radio show.
The first episode – ‘blonded LSD’ – involved a conversation about microdosing between Dr James Fadiman and Ocean himself, accompanied by a 35-minute original score produced by the latter.
The second episode – ‘blonded ENERGY!’ – featured Mingtong Gu, who teaches the ancient Chinese practice of Qigong (a form of internal kung fu). This was also punctuated by some previously unheard tunes described as “a whole lot of repetitions of the word ‘energy’ switched to some balmy guitars.”
Whether any of these aforementioned tracks will appear in future projects is currently unclear.
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What could Frank Ocean’s third album be about?
Based on the new music previewed via Blonded Radio, we believe it could be drug related – specifically hallucinogens.
Pitchfork once described Frank Ocean as a “master of confessional songwriting” who earned a cult-icon status with his enigmatic persona and “idiosyncratic approach to pop.”
In other words, as per usual, it won’t just be another narrative. It’s going to be framed through the deeply emotional context of personal experience.
Do we know the title of Frank Ocean’s new album?
Considering Frank Ocean has updated his streaming service banner to a series of images of himself grinning – which was also printed as limited-edition posters for Channel Orange’s 10th anniversary – Reddit theorises the new album’s title will be a reference to all this.
u/LouTheSwordsman has suggested Smiles, a nod to the iconic happy smile drug symbol, and all the chat about hallucinogens on Blonded Radio. Another user thinks it could be Starstruck, although this possibility is far less likely.
When can we expect Frank Ocean’s new record?
At this stage, we have zero intel about the release date for the next Frank Ocean album, or any other kind of release timeline, for that matter.
According to i-D:
In September 2021 last year, it was reported that Frank Ocean was “shopping” his new record to labels, having released ‘Blonde’ independently on his label Boy’s Don’t Cry. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s finished it — labels would happily fork out to have Frank on their roster without hearing a completed album — but it does at least suggest that he’s on his way to dropping something soon.
The general consensus among fans and pundits alike is that we can reasonably expect something between now and April 2023 (Coachella).
Frank Ocean Discography
Studio Albums
- Blonde (2016)
- Channel Orange (2012)
Visual albums
- Endless (2016)
Mixtapes
- Nostalgia, Ultra (2011)
