James Blake interpolates unreleased Frank Ocean song “Godspeed”
Polydor Records
British singer James Blake’s new track “Always” interpolates an unreleased Frank Ocean song titled “Godspeed.” Blake released the piece on his third studio album, The Colour in Anything. Listen to “Always” and view the album’s liner notes below.
“Always” by James Blake, 2016-05-06.
CD liner notes (Reddit: u/Snowwyoyo, 2016-05-25).
Update 2016-08-20:
Frank Ocean released “Godspeed” on his third studio album Blonde, three months after James Blake previewed its lyrics and melody in “Always.” Blake helped produce, arrange, and play keyboards in Ocean’s song. Listen to “Godspeed” below.
Update: “Godspeed” by Frank Ocean, 2016-08-20.
Update 2020-09-11:
James Blake released his own cover of Frank Ocean’s “Godspeed” as a digital single and music video for his EP titled Covers.
“Godspeed” by James Blake, 2020-09-11.
Related Articles:
Emails from Frank Ocean’s producers shed light on his 2016 album’s development, detailing changes made to several released and unreleased tracks between January 2014 and February 2015.
UK singer James Blake released his own rendition of Frank Ocean’s 2016 song “Godspeed” as a digital single and music video for his upcoming EP Covers. Blake helped produce and arrange the original song, which debuted on Ocean’s 2016 album Blonde.
Today, Saint Laurent announced that it has teamed up with its new rap muse on a limited-edition vinyl record with tracks accompanied by Kanye West, James Blake, Frank Ocean, and Bon Iver.
An art piece in Boys Don’t Cry magazine offers a glimpse into the Internet-surfing habits of six notable figures, including Frank Ocean, rapper A$AP Rocky, singer James Blake, stylist Justin R. Saunders, and music producers Michael Uzowuru and Evian Christ. The article is titled “Bon Jovi Naked”—a tongue-in-cheek reference to a Google search for Jon Bon Jovi’s 1997 track “Naked.”
In his new magazine, Boys Don’t Cry, Frank Ocean published a six-part screenplay titled Godspeed. The story follows Steely, a “charismatic and well-liked, but emotionally guarded” boy, alongside his friends. Ocean describes the play as a ‘reimagined part of his boyhood.’
Ocean debuts his highly anticipated studio album, along with a 370-page, large-format art book, which he is giving away for free at pop-up shops in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and London.
UK singer James Blake’s new track “Always” interpolates an unreleased Frank Ocean song titled “Godspeed.” Blake released the piece on his third studio album, The Colour in Anything.
Ocean debuts his highly anticipated studio album, along with a 370-page, large-format art book, which he is giving away for free at pop-up shops in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and London.
The 46-minute visual album is available exclusively on Apple Music. It features Ocean constructing a spiral staircase in an empty warehouse, all set to new music—with potentially more to come.
In a surreal video filmed by British filmmaker Tyrone Lebon, Frank Ocean joins a host of other celebrities in modeling for Calvin Klein’s fall 2016 #MyCalvins global campaign. The one-minute underwear advert sees Ocean discussing his passion for music as a new instrumental plays in the background. He also quotes prospective lyrics from his overdue album, Boys Don’t Cry.
A mysterious image has appeared on Ocean’s website, showing a library book insert with a series of crossed-out “due dates.” The post is his first update since April 2015, when he announced the originally planned July 2015 release date for “album 3” and “issue 1” of his companion magazine.
UK singer James Blake’s new track “Always” interpolates an unreleased Frank Ocean song titled “Godspeed.” Blake released the piece on his third studio album, The Colour in Anything.
In a website and Tumblr post, Ocean reveals that “album 3” is set for release in July 2015, alongside “issue 1” of his companion magazine. The teaser offers a first look at the magazine’s cover, which will be available in “two versions.”
“No better than the next man, just doing a different thing with my time… I’m working on a lot of music; I’m gonna get back to that now.” Frank Ocean opens up about life in a new Tumblr missive, in which he discusses hanging out with Jay-Z and Pharrell, traveling the world, potentially moving to NYC or Tokyo, writing a novel, starting a car club, and other random musings.
The jazzy instrumental rendition of Frank Ocean’s 2012 track is the third single from Flea’s upcoming solo album Honora. The song is paired with a visualizer by Nespy5euro that tells a story through a series of watercolor and pencil illustrations.
VSQ Performs Frank Ocean covers 13 songs, including tracks from Ocean’s 2011 project Nostalgia Ultra, 2012 album Channel Orange, 2016 album Blonde, and 2017 single “Chanel.”
American singer-songwriter Omar Apollo reveals in the liner notes for his second studio album, God Said No, that his track “Life’s Unfair” interpolates the melody or lyrics of a previously unheard-of piece by Frank Ocean.
Frank Ocean’s 2012 song has reappeared in “Virginia Beach,” the opening track of Drake’s eighth studio album.
UK singer James Blake released his own rendition of Frank Ocean’s 2016 song “Godspeed” as a digital single and music video for his upcoming EP Covers. Blake helped produce and arrange the original song, which debuted on Ocean’s 2016 album Blonde.
This stripped down acoustic take elevates the airy beauty of the original and gives the song a folksy spin.
The story gets more complicated after seeing the following dashcam video posted by SZA herself on her IG account about a month ago.
Dermot Kennedy has teamed up with Mike Dean on his new mixtape, where he revives his cover of Frank Ocean’s 2011 track “Swim Good” and gives it a moody new look.
During the debut night of Melodrama's North American tour, Lorde paid homage to one of her biggest influences.
At roughly 3am EST, Frank dropped a late Valentines Day present on the digital doorsteps of his followers.
The band's new record is out now on Run For Cover Records.
Like Blond Piano's take on Blonde earlier in the year, Solo Sounds has partnered with musician Rob Arthur to share a Rhodes piano take on Frank's 2012 classic LP.
Smith uses her unique voice to put a fresh spin on the Channel Orange classic.
NYC-based trumpet player, singer, composer Wayne Tucker has released a truly unique and jazzy arrangement of Frank Ocean's Channel Orange ballad "Bad Religion."
A mysterious tribute to Frank Ocean's Blonde appeared on streaming services this week. Blond Piano: A Piano Tribute to Frank Ocean is a track-for-track retelling of the album with just the sultry sounds of classical piano to carry the tunes home.
“If I could guess your password, you know I’d break in/ To the empty heart that you keep my face in”
UK singer James Blake’s new track “Always” interpolates an unreleased Frank Ocean song titled “Godspeed.” Blake released the piece on his third studio album, The Colour in Anything.
Ocean released a cover of The Isley Brothers’ song “(At Your Best) You Are Love” on his Tumblr as a tribute to the late R&B star on her posthumous 36th birthday.
A smooth jazz tribute to some of Frank Ocean's lead singles has arrived on streaming services.
The track, shared on SoundCloud and Tumblr, interpolates Babyface’s 1990 single of the same name.
The mixtape features another reused beat from fellow Odd Future member Tyler, The Creator.