Frank Ocean releases new album and publishes letter thanking fans

The long-awaited follow-up to Channel Orange is now available.

Frank Ocean has released his second album after years of speculation about when it would come out.

It was expected to be called Boys Don't Cry, but that is instead the name of a magazine accompanying the album which is in pop-up stores around the world.

"I had the time of my life making all of this. Thank you all," he wrote in a letter on his Tumblr.

"Especially those of you who never let me forget I had to finish. Which is basically every one of ya'll. Haha. Love you."

Pop-up stores in London, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago will open to mark the album release.

In his letter he talks about the inspiration behind the album,

"Boys do cry, but I don't think I shed a tear for a good chunk of my teenage years," he posted.

"It's surprisingly my favourite part of life so far. Surprising, to me, because the current phase is what I was asking the cosmos for when I was a kid.

"Maybe that part had its rough stretches too, but in my rear-view mirror it's getting small enough to convince myself it was all good. And really though... It's still all good.

"This is Boys Don't Cry and 'Blonde'. First times. Worldwide."

Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar and Andre 3000 feature on the release.

On Friday, Frank released an 18-track visual album with collaborations from James Blake and Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood.

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