Formerly titled Boys Don’t Cry, the album is 17 tracks in length and doesn’t have any features credited in the tracklist but a list in the accompanying physical book includes an extensive list of collaborators. Indeed, Endless provokes a crisis of legibility – how to effectively read its value and meaning given the deliberate withholding of information that would help contextualize it. Along with the footage, there was an album’s worth of new music. Ocean is understandably using the visual stream as a platform to promote his new tunes since there has been so much outcry over the delay of his follow-up album.
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It seems the fans are grateful as well, with Frank’s name trending on social media since the moment he reemerged on his Endless stream on Apple playing new music.
Ocean has a few collaborations on the album, including with R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and British artist James Blake. Additionally, Boys Don’t Cry features exclusive photos, personal essays penned by Frank, as well as lengthy interviews with Kanye West, which discusses the collaboration process on his latest LP, The Life of Pablo.
He also released new single “Nikes” from the album, over the weekend. Call me ignorant, but dropping Endless is simply another way to extend the marketing cycle.
Elusive indie rock artist Alex G plays the guitar on “Slide on Me”, “Rushes”, and “Wither”. Last year, he teased his sophomore album on Tumblr with a cryptic post, writing, “I got two versions”. This is Frank Ocean’s second album released to date, with Endless being his first visual album.
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A tweet from the official account of Apple Music (@AppleMusic) announcing the debut of Ocean’s work on Thursday, received more than 21,000 likes and more than 22,000 retweets.
