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This week on Tracking––a weekly series in which we discuss our favorite songs of the year (you can check out the official list as the year progresses)––you can listen to additions from Frank Ocean, Fiona Apple, Peaking Lights, Charli XCX and The Tallest Man on Earth. (Click on the arrows to navigate through the songs.)
Frank Ocean: Pyramids (1 of 5)
Frank Ocean is really stretching the limits of the term “song” on “Pyramids”. There are more ideas on this track than on most albums. They may not all come together cohesively, but they are all epic and that’s really what matters. The opening segment sports the beautiful, warped R&B that Ocean has become known for. But from there we get a smattering of electro-house synths, MJ style pop, spaced out electronic segues, UK bass breaks, saxophone, and, finally, a crunchy guitar solo (courtesy of John Mayer). The whole track is excellent but it really touches on something special at around 5:30. The drop – with that crisp percussion, that balance of grimy and bubbly synths, that lovingly sung refrain – is as sophisticated as it is head snapping. It would be the pinnacle of any normal song but here it is just one frame of a larger picture. Lyrically, one could say that “Pyramids” is a love ballad. A love ballad in the sense that Frank basically spends the whole time discussing the ins and outs (ha) of making love to “Cleopatra.” He has some clever lines throughout but the real gem is the insistence that she is “working at the pyramid tonight.” That line will henceforth be a euphemism for a girl going to bed with someone; and the world is a better place for it. –– Drew Malmuth
