If you’ve heard Frank Ocean’s new visual album Endless, you’ve noticed the album begins with an electronic track called “Device Control” by Wolfgang Tillmans and ends an extended version of the same song. Tillmans, a German photographer who shot a portrait of Ocean wearing gear from his never-launched web store last year, took to Instagram today to explain how his song — a technology commentary that namechecks Apple, Sony, and Samsung — ended up on Ocean’s project. Believe it or not, Ocean only heard “Device Control” three weeks ago! Tillmans explains:
Three weeks ago I showed him a few songs, which I had written and produced for myself, and he replied ‘Device Control is brilliant. Love. Can I sample it for the intro of my album?’ I agreed and to my excited surprise this morning he didn’t just sample it. He released my complete original track as the end of this amazing album.
So I guess this one was coming together up until the last minute a la The Life Of Pablo, and Ocean wasn’t just sitting on a finished product for more than a year like the Chromatics have allegedly been doing with Dear Tommy. Like, this whole exchange with Tillmans was happening only a few days before Ocean launched the carpentry livestream that later turned out to be the visual component of Endless. Anyway, while you continue to wait for whatever Boys Don’t Cry is called now, you can read Tillmans’ full Instagram post below.
