To be Frank Review - Nelson Webster

The last time I wrote about Franklin Stone, I promised that I would be back with a review, unbiased of course, and here it is! I didn’t speak on it in my preview, but the cover art stood out to me as soon as I saw it, especially when I made the connection: Benjamin Franklin and Franklin Stone. The two Franklins, if you will, is a motif that I hope he follows, not only because of the shared name, but also there is a depth of content he could explore, just on money alone, let alone Benjamin Franklin’s life and influence. I didn’t get that in To be Frank though.

I know I said that I was not a fan of how he names his songs and projects, but on this song I was pleasantly surprised how intuitive and reflective of the track itself. To be frank, is a phrase denoting someone is going to unveil a ‘truth’ of some kind, even if it is potentially offsetting and disrespectful, and I definitely got a hint of that here.

He begins the track with a beautiful composition, complete with an eerie, screeching guitar standing out from the lush orchestral strings playing behind it. The mixing of this section was executed flawlessly, giving me a diverse stereo image and lulling me into a stupor, only to jar me from it when the beat switches and Stone makes his appearance. I felt the transition was rather sudden, and I would not have objected to just having the instrumental part be its own song, but I kind of like the polarizing effect it had on me. 

The song has no hook and is essentially a long verse, only broken up by instrumental breakdowns, which does well to break up the content for me, as I identified three different areas of focus between the breakdowns. The first third is the second shortest and focuses, in my opinion, on Franklin himself, starting off with, “this is me!” He gives an aura of bravado and pride as he addresses his success and his lack of success. He paints the picture of his come up, while flashing back to when he wasn’t as regarded.

Then the subject switches and he focuses on a girl that either did him or his romantic partner wrong. This was the shortest, and I think because he didn’t have much, or didn't want to say much on the subject, stating that he will save the drama for the ‘bitches’. Oh, but the last verse is where I found myself vibing to the most. In contrast to the second verse, Stone had plenty to say on this subject as it is the longest part of the song. His focus is his competition, and how they try to shrug him off, and how he holds himself back from being the ‘bad guy’ in response. The song comes full circle, as this is what he was referring to in the first verse. 

At this point I got the title and how it related, excuse the pun, but Franklin is being frank with his approach lyrically. He’s letting his frustrations show and his delivery expresses that anger and frustration with no regard to how someone would respond to it. He ends the song with another abrupt change in the beat that returns to the lush vibe of the intro, but this time with a smooth sax taking the lead. To me, it sounds like once he finishes his rant and lets out his frustration, the tone of the song becomes calming and soothing as if after a therapy session. 

While the song is not perfect, particularly with some of the mixing, as there were parts that weren’t as smooth as I’d like it, I cannot say that I dislike the song. It is a rollercoaster of sounds, yet a simple beat, and the emotion is felt in his voice. I’m excited to hear what he has in store, but you already knew that. Until next time, signing off, Nelson Webster.