To commemorate Aaliyah’s birthday, Frank Ocean has released a spectral cover of The Isley Brother’s song that she made famous to ’90s R&B fans. Today Frank dropped (At Your Best) You Are Love on his Tumblr, which remains a very personally curated social media site for the singer (and proving that he’s arguably the only artist making the platform relevant in 2015). We can imagine Frank hitting “post” all by himself in the thick of the night, and it’s this personal touch which makes him seem, and sound, like the most heartfelt musician of the moment. He sings in a less-familiar high pitch throughout, but breaks into his more characteristic voice halfway through and ends the song with some funk-lite instrumentals. The plain-speaking emotional lyrics are the ideal honest way anyone would love to address a tricky relationship, as he sings:
There are times when I find
You want to keep yourself from me
When I don’t have the strength; I’m just a mirror of what I see
But at your best you are love
You’re a positive motivating force within my life.
Check it out on his Tumblr here and take note of the FKA Twigs video still. Could she feature on his new album?