Channel Orange

Product Information

It has a bright, Motown-inspired chorus, [64] a simple rhythmic cadence, gently strummed guitar, wistful vocals, and a perkily whistled coda. The title also alludes to the first time that Ocean fell in love, as it was summer and he perceived everything to be orange. For AllMusic, Andy Kellman wrote that Ocean's "descriptive and subtle storytelling is taken to a higher level" than on Nostalgia, Ultra, [4] while Mike Powell from Spin considered his tempered singing to be a sign of "exceptional wisdom and repose". In 2019, The Guardian ranked it 12th in a list of the 100 best albums from the 21st century, [131] while on rankings of the 2010s' top albums, Uproxx placed it 13th [132] and Pitchfork placed it 10th.

It was named "Album of the Year" in HMV's Poll of Polls, an annual survey of British journalists from national print and online publications. It won him the Album of the Year award at the 2012 Soul Train Music Awards [124] and Outstanding Music Artist at the 2013 GLAAD Media Awards. Ocean’s inflection is more Musiq Soulchild than Purple One, although his voice is more textured and his sound a bit broader.Ocean produced most of Channel Orange and was assisted by Malay, [6] who also played guitar, bass, keyboards, and brass instruments. Chris Richards of The Washington Post compared its melodic sensibilities to those of Gaye and Wonder, and its loose song structures to those of D'Angelo, Maxwell, and Erykah Badu.

In June 2012, [4] news outlets and music journalists from pre-release listening events for Channel Orange raised questions about certain songs' lyrics and Ocean's sexuality.The lighthearted, lovelorn "Golden Girl" has up-tempo synths, [66] gradual fades, [67] and Tyler, The Creator rapping in a low-pitched, demonic voice. The opening track "Start" is a snippet of ambient sounds, [35] bits of silence, and flickers of noise, [3] including a PlayStation booting up.

It recounts the narrator's lust for a girl as a teenager, [41] and compares their relationship to the vicissitudes of Sierra Leone such as diamonds and civil war. Brice Ezell from PopMatters wrote that it denotes "the vital midpoint of the overarching narrative", where "the wittier tone of the record's front half gives way to an emotionally dense second half. Reviewers of the shows noted Ocean's low-key stage presence and observed crowd screams and audience members singing-along to songs.It is composed as a character sketch of a young parent, [57] who sings his infant daughter to sleep. Ocean said that he admires "the anonymity that directors can have about their films" and explained his use of interludes on the album, saying that "the work is the work. John Calvert of The Quietus wrote that his lyrics treat love as "innocent", and feature "flying-as-love" metaphors and "respectful euphemisms" for sex such as a flight on a " fighter jet". Originally written by Ocean for singer Bridget Kelly, " Thinkin Bout You" had been recorded as an early take by him and posted on his Tumblr account in July. To prevent Channel Orange from leaking onto the Internet, Ocean planned to release it digitally one week earlier than its publicly announced date.

Sierra Leone" incorporates chillwave and quiet storm styles, wind chime sounds, lo-fi beats, [6] and polyphony similar to Prince's 1985 song " Paisley Park". Ocean recorded his vocals alone for several months, striving intensively for high performance standards, before rejoining Malay for the album's production. Songs on the album are characterized by electronic keyboard, muted percussion, [35] fluctuating backing tracks, [36] shifting synthesizers, [27] vamps, vibrant guitar, [10] and hazy electronic effects such as dub reverb.After listening to his free mixtape nostalgia, I was immediately hooked by his lyrics, vocals and style. We use cookies to give you the best possible experience on our site, provide personalised content and advertising, analyse our traffic, and ensure you see more of what you love. Ocean agreed to perform at the awards show only if they let him play the song he wanted, [19] "Forrest Gump". For his lyrics, Ocean used both his past personal experiences and imagination to compose narratives for songs. The actual discs are completely different: my copy has opaque orange marble, and the center stickers are very minimal, almost matching the original Channel Orange cover, and each side has swapped sticker colors.