It’s been a while since we have heard any new material from Frank Ocean, then yesterday he broke his musical silence with an enchanting cover of The Isley Brothers classic, ‘At Your Best (You Are Love)‘, which he has expressed is a tribute to the late Aaliyah on what would have been her 36th Birthday.

The cover is stripped back, understated and hears Frank Ocean’s vocals sounding hotter than ever. There is no word of any other new recordings from the artist as yet, however he did sign under new management last summer so hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for that much anticipated follow up album to ‘Channel Orange‘.

@CarlyMond

Frank Ocean – At Your Best

Over the past two weeks not one but TWO incredible EP’s have dropped in the world of RnB! Raleigh Ritchie who has been blowing up the UK RnB seen over the past year, has collaborated with American Neo-Soul group The Internet on a new EP entitled, ‘Black and Blue Point 2‘. The EP features hot remixes of tracks from Ritchie’s previous EP as well as a new song, ‘Chased‘ showing his lyrics and vocals are as on point as ever. This is a great collaboration and another fantastic EP for Raleigh Ritchie fans to add to their collection – lets hope to hear more from this team in the future! You can buy ‘Black and Blue Point 2’ now on Itunes.

The second EP comes from unsigned American artist Gallant entitled ‘Zebra’. Gallant has teamed up with producers Felix Snow and Maths Time Joy to release this incredibly unique EP, at first listen I became an instant fan – the style lies somewhere between RnB, Neo-Soul and this new electronica soul coming from artists like Sampha and SZA. Gallant’s vocals are stunningly distinctive and at times haunting (in a good way!). His lyrics are rich and emotive and scream wisdom years beyond his young age of 21, if the music industry has any sense this guy won’t stay unsigned for long! If you are a fan of Maxwell and Frank Ocean or just want to hear something enticingly unique you can buy ‘Zebra‘ from Itunes.

With this level of talent being brought at the start of their careers I can’t wait to hear what Raleigh Ritchie and Gallant will be bringing in the future – these two are definitely ones to watch!!

Carly – ann (@CarlyMond)

Gallant – Jupiter Grayscale
http://youtu.be/iE5VqTY9t3c

 

 

 

 

Frank Ocean is one of the golden boys in music at the moment, reflected most obviously by the rate at which all of the tickets were snapped up for his first solo tour sold out especially his only London show which sold out in around 18 minutes. I missed the trick on that one but managed to see his rescheduled New York last weekend which took place at the intimate Bowery Ballroom in Lower Manhattan.
After reading mixed reviews about the London show, some criticising his lack of interaction with the audience and the absence of a live band or dj I was anticipating the night but confident that Franko wouldn’t disappoint.

As modest as they come Frank slipped into the venue using the front door and shortly took to the stage in a black suit crisp blazer and trousers, crisp white shirt and a red and white bandana tied around his head Rambo style. No introduction needed and an unlikely start to the show was his version of Sade “By Your Side” which had the females in the audience appreciating his signature use of the falsetto. Setting the scene to the inspiration behind the track and commencing with the ballad, originally penned for Roc signing Bridget Kelly “Thinking About You” Frank performed a string of tracks from his already hefty musical catalogue with passion. When he spoke in between tracks he seemed nervous but sang with conviction when it was time to switch it back on. In fact, the lack of a band or DJ was irrelevant and instead Frank chose to have a backdrop of specifically chosen clips of footage on rotation on the big screen behind him to illustrate the message behind each individual song, giving us a glimpse into how important visuals are to him. If you’re familiar with Frank’s music videos so far, its clear that they’re an important tool in expressing himself.

As well as a medley of his tracks featured on the WTT project, of all of the picks from his solo previous and current offerings Frank chose to showcase the tracks with sentiment, introducing the track “Dust” and describing the inspiration behind it as ‘a romance with days you’ll never get back, times that were beautiful’, performing that and “Acura Integurl” back to back again with the visuals for the latter track rolling in the background. Debuting forthcoming material, Frank teased us with a taste of what is to come, with tracks entitled “Super Rich Kids” where he proclaims ‘the maid comes around too much, parents aint around enough’ and “Disillusioned”. Even Frank running of stage to get his tea didn’t alter the atmosphere that he’d set ending the night with “We All Try” and his encore as him playing the piano belting out I Miss You, the song he penned for Beyonce’s most recent album 4.

In my opinion Frank is special and will continue to make soulful music he loves but doesn’t seem to realise how good it actually is. His live show might not be as polished or as much of a spectacle as other performers around at the moment but when he sings he’s enough to watch. Having said that, him playing guitar hero to end “American Wedding” was definitely a sight to behold.

Roc Nation singer Bridget Kelly who sang Alicia’s chorus and hook on tour with Jay Z on “Empire State of Mind” is back with this track called “Thinking About You”. A version popped up online sung by Odd Future’s Frank Ocean, who wrote the track and here is the official final version by Bridget which was premiered by Jay.

Bridget Kelly – “Thinking About Forever” (Written by Frank Ocean)

Michelle x