So it turns out that Frank Ocean is more than just a troll these days, as he turned up late last night to share a 45-minute video of himself building a spiral staircase. Along with the footage, there was an album's worth of new music. This is what's referred to as a "visual album," and it's been titled "Endless." For now, the music can't be heard apart from the stream, though all the credits for each of the 18 songs included on "Endless" have been revealed.
There are many notable collaborators on "Endless" as well as a host of unfamiliar names. Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead is credited as a string orchestrator on "At Your Best (You Are Love)," a cover of a song by The Isley Brothers that Ocean originally shared in January 2015. The British electronic singer known as Sampha, who has worked with Drake and Kanye West, contributes vocals to "Alabama."
Another British singer/producer, James Blake, who has also worked with both Drake and Kanye -- and who's set to appear on Vince Staples' Prima Donna, plays the synthesizer on "At Your Best." Arca, a Venezuelan experimental musician who lent production to four Yeezus tracks, is given a programming credit on "Mine." French DJ/producer SebastiAn has a programming credit on three "Endless" tracks, "Slide on Me," "Rushes," and "Higgs."
Elusive indie rock artist Alex G plays the guitar on "Slide on Me," "Rushes," and "Wither." R&B singer-songwriter Jazmine Sullivan, who achieved acclaim for last year's Reality Show album, lends background vocals to "Alabama," "Wither," and "Hublots."
Though the album hasn't been given an official release yet, Def Jam is listed as its primary label, which suggests that "Endless" might see a music-only release sometime soon. All of "Endless" was mastered by GOOD Music's Mike Dean.
The director of the film portion of "Endless" is Francisco Soriano, who has been a longtime photographer of Ocean's and who also directed the video to Channel Orange's "Lost," which is currently unavailable online. Head to Noisey for the full list of everyone involved in both the "Endless" film and music.
"Endless" can now be streamed exclusively via Apple Music.
