Next August will mark a decade since Frank Ocean last released a studio album. While the follow-up to Blonde still seems like a longshot, the singer-songwriter has served up a few breadcrumbs in the years since: In 2020 he officially released two tracks called "Dear April" and "Cayendo," and he's also teased unreleased music on his Blonded Radio Apple Music 1 radio show as well as on his Instagram story. There's been a rumor circulating that some of those teased songs were to be released on a shelved album called Look At Us, We're In Love. Now, Ocean -- not typically one to answer any questions -- is clearing the air about that.
Last week the Instagram account @rap.rappity shared a post about this supposed Look At Us, We're In Love lore, which featured a carousel of song snippets. The caption reads:
In late 2019, Frank Ocean began the rollout for his third studio album, “Look At Us, We’re In Love.” Leading up to the album, he released several singles, including DHL, In My Room, Dear April, and Cayendo.
Unfortunately due to unimaginable circumstances with the COVID-19 pandemic and the tragic passing of his little brother, the album was shelved and possibly left unfinished.
Over the years leaks and snippets have surfaced from the lost project.
Oh, what could have been...
This morning, Ocean commented on that post. Here's what he had to say:
Not exactly. For posterity’s sake .. ‘Look At Us We’re In Love’ was an early attempt at a title for my club nights in NYC before I decided on one. Several of these are either ai generated or holes in my memory. I’m gonna have to go with the former. The earliest work here is from about 12 or 13 years ago. Stray sketches with stray collaborators uploaded by some eager individuals :)
The "club nights" in question seems to be referring to PrEP+, the series of parties Ocean began in October 2019. Named after the HIV-prevention drug, it was billed as "an homage to what could have been of the 1980's NYC club scene" had that drug been available during the AIDS crisis.
So, still no update about when (or if) Ocean fans can expect LP3. But back in June, he did finally release Channel Orange on vinyl, so he hasn't forgotten about us completely yet. See his comment below, along with a leaked video for "Changes," an unreleased song Ocean made with Rosalía.
