Frank Ocean – Pyramids (NSFW)

The third single from Frank Ocean’s debut album channel ORANGE was released yesterday. Pyramids is a psychedelic, video game-infused track that takes us on a journey through a mind obviously heavily influenced by some sort of pharmaceutical, alcohol, or a dangerous combination of the two.

The video, directed by Australian photographer Nabil Elderkin with photography work by Danny Hiele and mind-bending coloring compliments of Marshall Plante, begins with the opening seconds of Pink Matter, Frank in a bar knocking back four shots, then literally shooting the bottles behind the bar. We then see him stumble out in the rain, the tell-tale sounds of PlayStation gearing up, and get right into the fusion of Pyramids. We follow the drunken crooner as he rides off on his motorcycle in the Nevada desert to a mysterious strip club called The Pyramid. Seems reasonable, except everything’s slightly off-kilter, the landscape warped, dancers’ bodies and faces bending around the sounds.

An enchanting guitar solo from John Mayer, playing something of a pied piper to Ocean’s drunken mouse, takes this video to a different plane altogether.

This is the explicit video, Not Safe For Work simply because, yes, there are ACTUAL strippers who are ACTUALLY in different stages of undress.

Take the video in as you will, but be prepared to get fired from your job if you decide to watch it there.

See more of Nabil’s work at his website. Also see more of Danny Hiele’s work here and Marshall Plante’s work here.