Endless (Frank Ocean album)

On February 21, 2013, Ocean confirmed that he had started work on his second studio album, which he confirmed would be another concept album. He revealed that he was working with Tyler, The Creator, Pharrell Williams, and Danger Mouse on the record.[7] He later stated that he was being influenced by The Beach Boys and The Beatles. He stated he was interested in collaborating with Tame Impala and King Krule and that he would record part of the album in Bora Bora.[8]

In April 2014, Ocean stated that his second album was nearly finished. In June 2014, Billboard reported that the singer was working with a string of artists including Happy Perez, Charlie Gambetta and Kevin Ristro (whom he worked with on Nostalgia, Ultra), as well as Hit-Boy, Rodney Jerkins and Danger Mouse.[9][10] On November 29, 2014, Ocean released a snippet of a new song supposedly from his upcoming follow-up to channel ORANGE called "Memrise" on his official Tumblr page. The Guardian described the song as: "a song which affirms that despite reportedly changing labels and management, he has maintained both his experimentation and sense of melancholy in the intervening years".[11] On April 6, 2015, Ocean announced that his follow-up to channel ORANGE would be released in July, as well as a publication, although no further details were released. The album was ultimately not released in July, with no explanation given for its delay. The publication was rumored to be called Boys Don't Cry, and the album was slated to feature the aforementioned "Memrise".[12][13][14]

On July 2, 2016, he hinted at a possible second album with an image on his website pointing to a July release date. The image shows a library card labeled Boys Don't Cry with numerous stamps, implying various due dates. The dates begin with July 2, 2015 and conclude with July 2016 and November 13, 2016. Ocean's brother, Ryan Breaux, further suggested this release with an Instagram caption of the same library card photo reading "BOYS DON'T CRY #JULY2016".[15] On August 1, 2016, a live video hosted by Apple Music showing an empty hall was launched on the website boysdontcry.co. The website also featured a new "boysdontcry" graphic. The video marked the first update on the website since a "date due" post from July.[16]

On August 1, 2016, a video appeared that showed Frank Ocean woodworking and sporadically playing instrumentals on loop.[17] That same day, many news outlets reported that August 5, 2016, could be the release date for Boys Don't Cry.[18][19] The video was revealed to be promotion for Endless, a 45-minute-long visual album that began streaming on Apple Music on August 19, 2016.[20] It was later confirmed that Endless is a different project than Ocean's second studio album. The assumed title Boys Don't Cry had been replaced with a new title, which led to the release of Blonde. Endless was his last project with Def Jam Recordings to fulfill his recording contract with them.[5][21]

On April 24, 2017, Ocean aired a remix of the track "Slide On Me" on his radio show Blonded Radio featuring American artist Young Thug. On November 27, 2017, as part of Cyber Monday, Frank Ocean started selling physical copies of Endless on his website along with new merchandise. The new, remastered version of the album is available on vinyl, CD/DVD and VHS.[22]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.1/10[23]
Metacritic	74/100[24]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[25]
The A.V. Club	C+[26]
Consequence of Sound	B−[27]
The Guardian	[28]
Mojo	[29]
Now	3/5[30]
Pitchfork	7.5/10[31]
Q	[32]
Spin	6.6/10[33]
Uncut	8/10[34]

Endless received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 74, based on 13 reviews.[24]

In The Guardian, Tim Jonze said Ocean mixed the pop with the avant-garde on Endless, calling it "a rich, varied and – at times – challenging musical feast", however noting that "much of this album floats by hazily and with no clear direction".[28] In a joint review of Endless and Blonde for Q magazine, Victoria Segal said "these records might not eclipse Channel Orange, but they have their own mercurial gleam, mapping the spaces between people, reaching for a hazy intimacy that almost feels real."[32] Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork wrote that "as a piece of filmed entertainment, Endless is painfully dull", however praised the "much more exciting" music, comparing it to a mixtape, and stating that it is "an intriguing peek into [Ocean's] process, and it contains some of the rawest vocal takes he’s ever put out".[31] For Consequence of Sound, Nina Corcoran wrote that the video "wobbles between its highs and lows". She was ambivalent to the music's abstract nature, noting that "is filled with beauty, but it feels like a dream where you don’t remember much, even if you take a pen to paper as soon as you wake".[27] In a mixed review for AllMusic, Andy Kellman wrote that the tracks "melt into one another", concluding that "it's a smartly ordered patchwork of mostly secondary material".[25]

Spin magazine's Brian Josephs was more critical, believing it did not work as an album. "As a whole, Endless feels formless," Josephs wrote, "like pretty, curlicue-flaunting cursive with no adherence to notebook margins."[33] Dan Caffrey of The A.V. Club stated that the album's concept "would be slightly fascinating", if the length didn't result in "the video becom[ing] a chore to sit through". He praised the album's opening tracks, however criticised the music overall as "undercooked ambience, half-finished verses, and robotic descriptions of Apple products".[26]

All tracks produced by Frank Ocean, Vegyn, Troy Noka and Michael Uzowuru, except where noted.

Notes

• "Device Control" and its reprise are not included in audio-only releases of the album, with "Mitsubishi Sony" extended to 2:51, leading to a total length of 38:17.
• There are some discrepancies between various track listings of the album. Not all releases list the songs "Ambience 001: A Certain Way", "Xenons", "Ambience 002: Honey Baby", "Walk Away", "Impietas", "Mitsubishi Sony", and the reprise of "Device Control" in their track lists.
• "Comme des Garçons" is incorrectly spelt "Commes des Garcons" in video releases.
• "Mitsubishi Sony" is stylized as "Mitsu-Sony" in the VHS/DVD releases.

Sample credits

• ^{^[a]} "At Your Best (You Are Love)" is a cover of the Isley Brothers song "(At Your Best) You Are Love". Ocean released this song on his Tumblr page as a tribute to Aaliyah, on the day that would have been her 36th birthday.
• ^{^[b]} "Hublots" contains samples from "We Ride Tonight", performed by The Sherbs and written by Garth Porter, Anthony Mitchell and Daryl Braithwaite
• "Ambience 001: A Certain Way" contains a sample from Crystal LaBeija's dialogue in The Queen,[35] and "I Think I Am in Love With You", performed by Wee and written by Norman Whiteside.
• "Ambience 002: Honey Baby" contains samples from "Vapor Barato", performed by Gal Costa and written by Jards Macalé and Waly Salomão.[36]

Notes