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See Frank Ocean Sing Radiohead’s ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ at Spotify Gig

Frank Ocean sings Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees"

Frank Ocean’s famous, emotion-filled falsetto must owe at least a little bit to Thom Yorke of Radiohead, whose Kid A rocker “Optimistic” he affectionately samples on his 2011 debut mixtape nostalgia, ULTRA‘s “Bitches Talkin'” interlude. At last week’s Spotify press conference, SPIN’s Album of the Year winner sang a bit of Radiohead’s The Bends classic “Fake Plastic Trees” as an introduction to his own channel ORANGE reverie “Voodoo.” Fan footage has surfaced on YouTube (via ONTD), and though it comes with your regularly scheduled reminder not to hold your camera vertically while recording video, it’s every bit as stirring and heartfelt-seeming as you’d expect. “If I could be who you wanted all the time…” the multiple Grammy nominee yearns, scrunching his face for those high notes. So far he’s doing an unparalleled job.