REVIEW (Music): Channel Orange
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READING TIME: 5 MINUTES
Bottom line: there’s layers upon layers upon layers. From unconventional sounds and messages leaving the listener with numerous interpretations.
There's depth in all forms of its presentation, lyrical complexity and multi layered production. Orange…something seen as simple but also has many constructs once you focus in: orange is warm-hearted, summertime, wild, tangy, moody, full of zest, textured, but also unpredictable. In reality the element of unpredictability erupted when Frank issued a confessional letter during channel ORANGE's release discussing the sting of his unrequited "real love” (Super Rich Kids) for another man. This opened up his work through the perspective of any sexuality making the album’s ambiguous interpretations [on love] multi-facetted, living up to the special duality of the definition of orange.
This coming-of-age album explores ideas of discovering and discussing the variations of love by flicking through the channels of life such as inequality, acceptance, spirituality, materialism, dependence (both substance-abuse and love) and rejection. Frank brings these ideas to life by directly transporting the listener to the busy mind of its storyteller. Along with experimental sounds of psychedelia, electro-funk and soul on the record which resist overpowering hooks and melodies in order to rein in the listener’s attention and highlight his conversational delivery instead. This diction is unconventional for R&B artists of the time, like Miguel or the The Weeknd, who showcase talent through singing smooth production.
The soothing personalised closeness with the narrator’s storytelling is also brought about by recognisable sounds in our surroundings like video games, channel surfing, tape recorders and car doors. These are sounds placed through the interludes to help the narrator’s story feel more familiar, reeling the listener into one’s conversation, and not just their story.
A highlight is the album’s half-way point ‘Pyramids’. One interpretation of it lyrically, compares and contrasts the shift of the black woman between ancient and modern times. Ocean retells mainstream media's swept under the rug truth; describing how Cleopatra, Queen of Ancient Africa, once the most powerful person in the world - … but her fall happened by surrendering to [white] men, which can be interpreted as mimicking the decline of respect [African American] black women endure today. Detailing the resorts of some of these women have to go through, such as entering the adult entertainment industry, is used with such force and pejorative conviction. It worked back in 2012 when strippers were not universally perceived as empowering as they are today, how times evolved so quickly.
To conclude, Frank’s imperfect but progressive artistry on channel ORANGE is inspiring to all desiring to become a well rounded artist. By being meticulous and diligent in their craft from each fraction of sound to each penned lyric.
