Abel Tesfaye, better known as 'The Weeknd' released his sophomore body of Work, “Beauty Behind the Madness”, on August 28, 2015. Dark, dreaded, The Weeknd has taken a step from his cool crooning, to a pop formulaic approach to singing. Keeping his core at heart: “I’m that n***a with the hair/ singing ‘bout popping pills/ f*****g bitches/loving life so trill" we find this essence bottled and diversified in this new body of work.
Does anyone remember “House of Balloons”? The mixtape featured vaporous Tesfaye whispering into the subconscious of whatever women found themselves in his lair. From the clouded veil synths and hazy beats guided us into the beautiful love life of the cold Weeknd. Fans have had the unique experience of following The Weeknd through a string of random mixtape releases (each one a delight) and even through his brief combination with OVO’s Drake and slowly along the way The Weeknd’s THC vapor cooled into a figure that not only reached the high ranges of the deceased king of pop Michael Jackson, but made us feel as if we were in his the corner of his mind while he indulged in those guilty pleasures.
This Abel has moved far from those days. Now in the spotlight of fame, he’s still managed to stay shy even while attending some of the most widely viewed music media outlets, like the VMA’s that aired last Sunday, even getting Kanye to vibe with him.
We’ve seen him in a much more public place than ever before. Moving from the dungeons of the internet he’s come up to perform at Coachella, multiple MTV award show performances the vampiric, mysterious figure started to come closer to light.
Even his releases became tamer. We started hearing from the The Weeknd in movie soundtracks rather than just random releases. The Great Gatsby soundtrack had his sharing a tracklist with the likes of Beyonce and Andre 3000 no less. Among other releases were the “Hunger Games- Catching Fire” soundtrack and, fittingly, the “50 Shades of Gray” soundtrack.
The entire album does a good job in texturizing The Weekend’s cold distance. From stabbing orchestral symphonies like in “Earned It” to the surprisingly warm Ed Sheeran team up track “Dark Times” which features a bare acoustic guitar driven back and forth between Sheeran and The Weeknd. Both reveal their shadowy pasts, while passing this warmly twangy tune between the two of them.
Dark times and places are not unfamiliar to The Weeknd. Starting off in the back of a van after dropping out high school before his first mixtape ,“House of Balloons”, dropped Abel moved out of home. Dragging a mattress out of his room and dropping out of school at the age of 17 he’s lived the songs he speaks.
Regret is not a part of Tesfaye’s vocabulary. “Only losers go to school” he is what he croons, kicking off the second song of the album-Losers. He does not look back and think dropping out was a mistake, in fact it was an essential part of his career.
He’s always been a train wreck. But he’s owned up to it. These girls don’t know what they’re getting into. “Real Life” reveals the project and addresses his loved ones opinion of his self-destructive life. “Tell them this boy wasn’t meant for lovin” he warns those looking for love to search elsewhere. Anywhere else.
Pills, smoke and love mix effortlessly still in “Beauty Behind the Madness”. The already released singles “THe Hills” and “Can’t Feel My Face” seem to be the edgiest tracks however. Focusing more on singing than ever before The Weeknd trades some of the raw shrieks of madness heard in past songs like “The Fall” or “Thursday”. In return his pop sound promises to produce hit after hit,surely.
