Take a break, listen to Moon River

Amarjot Kaur

Midterms, taxes, you name it! You deserve a break. Take a moment, sit outside in the sun, go on a road trip, or binge-watch that TV series you love while enjoying a pint (or two) of ice-cream. While the spring’s bloom has already started to fill the fields, as the season changes, it’s time to explore what lies beyond. 

Fortunately, we’ve got a beautiful library of carefully crafted playlists to soundtrack your BBQs, road trips and evening runs. This time around, it’s Frank Ocean guiding your relax route with his new single, titled Moon River, which is a cover of the song performed by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 film, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. 

Mic check

Christopher Edwin Breaux aka Frank Ocean is an American independent singer, songwriter, rapper, producer and photographer. Known for his idiosyncratic musical style, Ocean first embarked on a career as a ghost-writer, and in 2010 he became a member of hip hop collective Odd Future. He released his breakout mixtape, Nostalgia, Ultra, to critical acclaim in 2011. It generated his first charting single Novacane. In 2012, Ocean finished second place in the BBC’s Sound of 2012 poll.

His debut studio album, Channel Orange, was released in 2012. It reached number two on the Billboard 200 and was promoted with three singles, Thinkin Bout You, Pyramids, and Sweet Life. In 2016, Ocean released the visual album Endless alongside his second studio album Blonde, which was released independently following several years of delays. Blonde was highly acclaimed by critics, and debuted at number one in the United States and the United Kingdom.

(As told to Amarjot Kaur)

Musical influences

Frank grew up around his local jazz scene and listened to his mother’s CDs on her car stereo, including albums by Celine Dion, Anita Baker, and The Phantom of the Opera soundtrack. 

Hit list

In case you plan to extend your relaxing trip and develop a liking for Frank’s show-boiling ballads, listen to Blonde, Thinkin’ About You, Provider and Nights.