Frank Ocean Covers The Isley Brothers’ “At Your Best (You Are Love)”: Listen

Christina Lee | January 17, 2015 7:09 am
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Send Frank Ocean‘s new cover of “At Your Best (You Are Love)” to someone you love, immediately. The reclusive R&B singer sounds raw and vulnerable, perhaps more so than in his most revealing moments in his 2012 album channel ORANGE, as he sings the majority of the 1976 Isley Brothers song in his arresting falsetto. He sings as if he’s taking lead vocalist Ron Isley‘s loving sentiments to heart.

Exactly why Ocean released this cover, it’s tough to say. Some figure that the song makes for a fitting tribute to Aaliyah, who would have turned 36 on January 16 and popularized “At Your Best (You Are Love)” with her own cover in her 1994 debut, Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number.

Of course, Ocean has also said before that he wrapped his sophomore album. Up until today, all he’s shown for it is one lo-fi recording, reportedly titled “Memrise.” Toward the end of his Isley Brothers cover, though, Ocean cues up what sounds like part of a brand new song — a sign, we hope, that he’ll come out of hiding soon enough.

Hear Frank Ocean cover “At Your Best (You Are Love)” below.

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