Music Review: Nostalgia, ULTRA

Frank Ocean

Nostalgia, ULTRA

Self released

February 16

4.5/5

Frank Ocean’s Nostalgia, ULTRA is refreshing, but still holds familiar elements of popular R&B, as the singer blends prodigious lyricism, polished vocals and infectious beats to great effect.

       

Relatively speaking, Ocean is an oddball compared to the other young debauchees in Odd Future Wolfgang Kill Them All. The 23-year-old crooner is happily hedonistic much like other members of the upstart hip-hop collective; but his subject matter is much less grotesque.

Ocean’s superior songwriting skills are his debut album’s most striking strength.

Nostalgia, ULTRA is written with a high degree of lyrical intent and depth, regardless of if Ocean is wailing that people must “believe in something” on the doleful, soulful, “We All Try,” or if he’s singing playfully about leveraging his musical talents to woo women on the brashly comical “Songs For Women.”

Another standout track is the bouncy “Novacane,” a song about Ocean’s indulgences in drugs and sex — and about how he “can’t feel nothing” despite these pleasures.

Ocean offers more intriguing wordplay on 808-laced tracks “Dust,” “Love Crimes” and gives a stirring, passionate effort on the heavy-hearted “There will Be Tears,” his rendition of British star Mr. Hudson’s 2008 song by the same name. Keeping with his borrowing ways, Ocean samples the Eagles, “Hotel California” for one of the album’s biggest attractions, “American Wedding,” a sobering, downbeat take on love and matrimony. 

Nostalgia, Ultra is packed with R&B tracks you can nod your head to, while soaking in silky smooth vocals and dissecting insightful lyrics with minimal sonic distractions. The album isn’t overproduced and Ocean appears to have a great ear for beats that compliment his voice. As a bonus, he rarely auto-tunes himself, which is, of course, the next best thing to no auto-tune.

While the album features Ocean singing over a typical mixture of electro, soft rock, hip-hop, dance and soul beats, the content of his music is far more creative and diverse than most artists on the R&B landscape. Ocean is open and passionate, and doesn’t shy from taking listeners through every twist and turn of his existential crisis.