I didnt want to throw it away.
I realized that it represented a certain time and that time was gone.
Anythingis quintessential Blake, simultaneously glitchy and organic, gloomy and empowering.
Credit: Pedro Gomes/Redferns via Getty Images
Blake walked EW through the stories behind some ofAnythings highlights and the personalities that shaped the album.
Modern Soul
This record was a pressure cooker environment for me, says Blake.
Lots of different factors colluded to make it a very hard record to finish.
Everybody has their own personal struggles to interface with, he says.
Dealing with all sorts of modern phenomena.
Modern Soul is a commentary on that.
For My Willing Heart, Ocean first reinforced Blakes decision to use pitch-shifted vocals.
People have commented on it as a kind of millennial lyric, Blake says.
That sums up Franks ability to be in the now.
I worry about the future too much to be able to comment on the moment so well.
Id say hes one of the best lyricists around.
Always
Oceans otherAnythingcut, the penultimate track Always, was a different jot down of collaboration.
Its an interpolation of a song that he wrote that hasnt come out yet, Blake notes.
It was nice of him to let me use it.
But he says what Ocean has played him sounds phenomenal: He is going to make people very happy.
Blake says hed improvise for 30 to 45 minutes and then play back the tape with Rubin.
I ended up with some ideas that I may not have picked out myself, Blake says.
He just had an immense impact on some of the flow and the structures of certain songs.
I played him something like an initial early idea and he started singing, Blake recounts.
I thought, Well Im not going to waste this opportunity.
He sang and recorded the main hook within a minute of sitting down.
Hes just got his mouth and gold just falls out.
Put That Away and Talk to Me
Blake cites cannabis as a demotivating element of theAnythingsessions.
There were days where I shouldve recorded and I couldnt because my voice was not strong, he adds.
It gave me anxiety.
It had a really detrimental effect on my cognitive alertness.
I had a friend who was escaping, too, Blake says.
But he was doing it by always being on Instagram.
I felt like I never got to spend quality time with him.
I guess that is a modern phenomenon.
Forward
Blakes most widely heard track of 2016 didnt appear onAnything.
Just to be involved at all was an honor.
