Frank Ocean – Blond

This knocked me sideways when it came out. I just didn't know how he'd done it. I had to go downstairs to the studio with a notebook, shut the door, and take notes, to try to work out what he was doing. What he does with the 808 drum sounds, the autotune, the abrupt echoes and delays, slowed-down guitars, distant pianos, the birdsong…then using bone-dry vocals one minute and church hall reverb the next…it's astonishing. It's also beautiful again, and sad. Beautiful and sad: that's a key theme for me.