Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange was about as phenomenal as debut records get. It vaulted the Odd Future affiliate into celebrity strata and earned so much of our affection that we named it the best album of 2012. And then the rising R&B star went quiet. Aside from a couple songs, a handful of guest appearances, and two beautiful contributions to James Blake’s latest record, The Colour in Anything, Ocean largely disappeared from pop culture’s purview. But now he’s back! That’s right, Frank Ocean’s sophomore LP is finally and officially arriving this week.
As the New York Times reports, the new album, titled Boys Don’t Cry, will arrive on Friday in an exclusive deal with Apple Music. A major video and a printed publication of the same name will reportedly follow the full-length. After two weeks, the Apple’s exclusivity period will end and Boys Don’t Cry will become more widely available.
The release date for the LP was previously teased on Ocean’s website, boysdontcry.co, via a cryptic library due-date slip with various stamped dates—perhaps making light of the glacial pace at which the album process has moved. This morning, Ocean also released a mysterious live stream of two workbenches in a large, empty hall. What does it all mean? We’ll find out in t-minus four days!
We couldn’t be more pumped about this news. And in light of the long hiatus since Ocean’s last record, it’s nice to remember that the best art takes time. Could we be on the eve of another Frank Ocean masterpiece? Let us know about all the thoughts and feels you’re having in the comments below.
Image: david_hwang via Wikimedia Commons
