Photo of Frank Ocean by Andrew Chin
After months of teasing his new album was on the way, it seems Frank Ocean is finally ready to share his new album with fans, with the new LP, titled Boys Don't Cry, expected to arrive this Friday (Aug. 5).
The New York Times first reported Monday the album will be an Apple Music exclusive for two weeks before being made available via other platforms. A publication of the same name will also be distributed through Apple stores.
The positive news, said to have been confirmed by sources with knowledge of Ocean's plans, comes just hours after a mysterious video stream featuring the Apple Music logo surfaced on the singer's website.
First appearing around midnight on the West Coast (Aug. 1), the visuals seem to be recorded inside some sort of industrial building, with audio heard only intermittently.
The stream, which was likely pre-recorded, comes as many fans had been expecting Ocean's new full-length to arrive in July after he shared an image of a library due-date slip with July 2016 (exact date not legible) and November 13, 2016 among various date stamps.
Later on Monday, the visuals began changing to show the same room from different angles, now with a shadowy figure (perhaps Ocean himself) seen in the frame and using a table saw to cut wood while portions of instrumental music play sporadically.
Reps for both Ocean's label Def Jam Records and Apple Music did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As of early Friday evening, the album has not yet been released and many frustrated fans have speculated online that it may not in fact arrive. The video stream on Ocean's website does not appear to have changed since late Thursday night.
Ocean's debut solo record, channel ORANGE, arrived four years ago last month.
Update (Aug. 18): As of tonight, Ocean has returned to the stream on his website. He is now seen building a staircase, while clips of new music (some of which includes distinct Ocean vocals) are heard overhead. It seems the release is imminent.
(Updated on Aug. 18 at 10:05 p.m. EST)