by Preston Radke Beloved Pop/R&B artist Frank Ocean surprised everyone with the premier of “Chanel” on his Blonded Radio show on Beats 1 Radio on the night of March 10. Upon first listen “Chanel” sounds like track 18 off of Blonde; the piece contains similar atmospheric constructs, vocal patterns and lyrical themes found on Ocean’s revered 2016 album. “Chanel” is one of those tracks that one appreciates the more that they listen to it. On the surface, the song’s appeal and palatability do not change even after five or so spins. However, one realizes the more subtle, technical innovations upon further close listening. As is expected with most of Ocean’s work, “Chanel” is a vague, yet specific love song. We don’t know who he is, or who he’s singing about. Yet the lyrics and the slowed down tempo imply a classic love song. The lyrics in the first half of the song seem to be pointing toward a partner of some sort, exemplified by the somewhat intimate vocalizations and rather vivid imagery. On the other hand, after the first chorus (“I see both sides like Chanel see on both sides like Chanel”) the song takes on a more disjointed, conflicted tone. Frank’s lyrics get distorted and cross recorded with his own voice raised a few octaves singing about this partner but in a more antagonistic or id-esque manner than before. Though this came across as different, and a nice change-of-pace, the inclusion of the aggressive cross recording really negatively impacts how the song connects to the listener. When I listened to it, I found myself getting confused and trying to figure out what Frank 1 and Frank 2 were saying. Instead of getting soaked up in the music, I almost felt like this was an assignment of Capture the Frank. Ocean’s overall vocal delivery doesn’t stray too much from Blonde. “Chanel” starts out sounding more Channel Orange, but at around the 1.50 mark, the vocoder and/or auto tune effectively and artfully kick in, thus Blondizing this song for the duration. Ocean uses a simple somewhat layered beat. This is by no means a dance song, but there is a rhythm buried deep. As brutal as this sounds, “Chanel” really felt longer than its 3 minute run time. The choruses were quick and not necessarily worth dwelling on; the cross recording lost its shine quickly, and frankly, the bridge-onward felt forced and disjointed. Ocean spent about a minute singing about different types of credit and gift cards that he has or will have. It felt like he was trying to be deeper and more symbolic than he came across. Aside from the duel vocalizations, this song really didn’t move Frank Ocean too far forward. Blonde was a 17 track epic that redefined Ocean’s sound, yet this song really didn’t sound that different. If Ocean wanted to release something to get his name out there, then he should have produced something new and innovative. Again, this just feels like a track that could comfortably slot in after “Nikes”, or “Solo.” All Images From: The Interns
