Frank Ocean releases 'Endless' visual album, featuring Jazmine Sullivan and Alex G.

The Frank Ocean waiting game has taken an unexpected turn.

It's been four years since Channel Orange, Ocean's acclaimed 2012 album, and two weeks ago, the world was convinced that the hip-hop soul singer was finally ready to unleash Boys Don't Cry, the long delayed follow-up, which was originally expectded in 2015.

But on Thursday night, Ocean resumed streaming the mysterious black-and-white film on his web site which shows him busy doing woodwork in a warehouse, and eventually building a (metaphorical?) staircase. Then - surprise! - he released Endless, a 45-minute-long visual album as a exclusive stream on Apple Music.

Of the 18 songs, two are ambient instrumentals. All were written by Ocean, save for a cover of the Isley Brothers' "At Your Best (You Are Love)." The "visual album" concept, of course, places Endless in the same category as Beyonce's two such efforts:  2013's Beyonce and this year's Lemonade. But don't get too excited about the imagary accompanying Endless' music. It's intentionally dull and methodical, likely meant to convey the notion that making music is long, hard, piece-by-piece work, and that despite what his frustrated fans might have been thinking, Ocean hasn't been sitting around doing nothing for the last four years.

After Boys Don't Cry didn't come out earlier this month, speculation had it that the album wouldn't arrive until November. Endless now makes that unclear. Is this album Boys Don't Cry under another name, or an entirely different work? Meanwhile, after the seemingly endless wait, it seems a flood of Ocean is upon us: An Apple spokesperson told Pitchfork to "keep an eye out this weekend for more Frank." And Rolling Stone has reported that Boys Don't Cry will in fact be released this weekend, but under a new title.

You can listen to (and watch) Endless on Apple Music here.

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