He climbs the staircase all-too briefly before it cuts to him hanging around the warehouse again (this time to Tillman’s hugely surreal tune).
There are points where Ocean sits and checks his phone, such as during ‘U-N-I-T-Y’, and it feels frustrating – rude almost, that he should be doing this rather than continuing with his hugely anticipated project. In asking to use Tillmans’ track, it’s apparent that the clash between immediacy and actually living your life is seemingly very much on Ocean’s mind – something that’s also implicit in how Endless plays out as a whole. Take ‘Device Control’, for example, the bizarre and wonderful Wolfgang Tillmans song that bookends the visual album: “With this Apple appliance you can capture live video”, Tillmans says, before refraining, “Livestream your life”. Of course, the apparent trolling that was the woodwork culminated in the strangely mesmerising Endless, moving from the dialled-down tone of Alex G’s gorgeously hazy guitars into the immensely satisfying beats of ‘Higgs’ as he finally climbs that enigmatic spiral staircase in a moment that’s oddly breathtaking.Įndless ought to be kept in mind when considering Blond(e), especially concerning the idea of “being present”. Whether this was out of fear regarding the pressure, just calculated teasing, or a mix of both it’s hard to know – but it’s telling that on ‘Futura Free’ he offers, “I ain't on your schedule, I ain't on no schedule”. So it’s fair to say he understood the effect he was having with his hints at deadlines that weren’t fulfilled – it’s not unjustified to say he was deliberate in causing the intense feelings of frustration surrounding the teasing livestream of him doing woodwork.
He too is part of this generation that has grown used to the immediacy of social media: famously, he wrote an incredibly moving and open letter about his sexuality in a Tumblr post. Ocean (real name Christopher Breaux) is surely very aware of the test he has been presenting in the years post- Channel Orange. This doesn’t stop both works from being great albums – they are great – but they require time and, realistically, a step-back from the extraordinary (and sometimes ludicrous) hype that necessitates Ocean’s new works be either masterpieces or a complete let-down. With both Endless (the visual album), and Blond (or Blonde, a distinction presumably to do with representing both the masculine and the feminine), the test continues – the hooks don’t immediately present themselves, and the bangers aren’t so evidently there. Increasingly, we’re distracted by our ability to achieve instant gratification, and it’s why being a Frank Ocean fan has felt like a test these past four years (when, in reality, that’s not actually all that long to wait for a new LP).
In the world of social media, things are either amazing or terrible, and there’s rarely room for an in-between.
We’re constantly wired in, constantly able to access and share information, and “being present” becomes a little difficult when you’re simultaneously refreshing your newsfeed or sharing said “present” on your Snapchat story. The trouble is that we’re also in an age of immediacy, where it feels like anything we desire can be achieved or discovered by tapping away briefly at a keyboard or a screen. We live in an age where everyone talks about the benefits of being mindful and craves the pleasure of enjoying the now. Let’s talk about the conflicting notion of “being present”.