The Weeknd The Trilogy The Weeknd has saved R&B. Big call? Maybe, but it is truly deserved. With the third and final mixtape in a trilogy released late last year, The Weeknd offered an oasis amidst the auto-tuned electro wasteland modern R&B has become.
rabbit-hole with the claim “You don’t know what’s in store/but you know what you’re here for”. ‘Want You Need’ is punctuated by a straw sucking down the last of a drink (or something more sinister) which sets the tone for the darkness ahead.
The Weeknd is Abel Tesfaye, a 21-year old Canadian, whose haunting style is melancholia and hedonism is as brilliant as it is disturbing. From the first mixtape, House of Balloons the haunting distorts that open ‘High For This’ to the drug paraphernalia percussion of ‘What You Need’ makes it very clear this is not the R&B you’re used to. Slipping effortlessly between between aggressive ladies man to vulnerable casualty of the party scene, he navigates through the trials and tribulations of his relationships, deep personal reflection and social commentary. It’s a concept album that through three acts tells the sordid tale of the party, the after party, and the aftermath.
The grinding nervousness of ‘House of Balloons/ Glass Table Girls’ only adds to the lyrical content and vocally invokes Prince at his most seductive (and Michael Jackson at his most paranoid.) ‘Wicked Games’ is true to it’s name, weaving a dark and illicit tale of a urban Sid and Nancy, dependent on each other and other more potent substances. ‘The Party and The After Party’ is the standout track, with Tesfaye smoothly navigating the listener through his act of seduction from first contact to the hotel room.
Opener ‘High For This’ slithers out seductively, with Tesfaye inviting his femme fatale down the
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The concept goes beyond just the partying though the desperation and longing of ‘Coming Down’ and the so-dirty-you’ll-need-a-shower ‘Loft Music’. ‘The Knowing’ is a brilliant closing track; showcasing his vocal ability and the remorse of his hedonistic lifestyle.