The Weeknd - My Dear Melancholy,

Hey! Now, this was a surprise.  The Weeknd ladies and gentlemen, legendary Alternative R&B singer who took the world (and yours truly) by storm years ago with his "Trilogy" of Mixtapes.  These tapes were heavy and atmospheric and painted The Weeknd as this tortured soul of a man.  He was dangerous, had a thirst for sex 24/7, and seemed to be on a constant downward spiral.  It was a gritty set of tapes, but it was seriously compelling.  But ever since, The Weeknd (AKA Abel Tesfaye) has just seemed to shoot for the stars and miss every time.  "Kiss Land" was painfully lackluster, and "Beauty Behind the Madness" had brilliant singles but was drawn out and at times boring.  Even 2016's "Starboy" at the end of the day was just an alright album.  Abel seemed over time to be pushing away from his ethereal, atmospheric R&B and heading closer to a more accessible sound.  But that leads us to why we're here today, as The Weeknd is back with a brand new 6 song EP.  Let's chat boys and girls!

(A personal favorite of mine!)

    This EP starts off with “Call Out My Name”, an I’ll be honest, a whole lot of this intro gives me the chills.  Like I said, I’m a big fan of the “Trilogy” era Weeknd, and this absolutely sounds like to the fullest extent.  Abel sounds chilling in his performance, which seems to get better with age.  But he comes off so dangerous here like he’s watching from a distant.  It’s a very passion filled track, one that’s seriously sultry.  But the atmosphere is absolutely the star here.  This track is gigantic and suffocating, like the atmosphere of his iconic “House of Balloons” project, and it’s just so hazy and dark.  This is a really fantastic tune.  And I love hist how hulking “Call Out My Name” is.  This is far from what the Weeknd has been up to recently, I have no idea where this came from.  Then we have “Try Me’, and the very hazy atmosphere rages on.  But this one brings in the sort of Electro-Funk that Abel tried out on his “Starboy” album.  It gives this track just enough of a groove.  But I’m sort of not as into his vocals here.  On the opener, he seemed 100% into bringing in the tortured soul that was “Trilogy” era Weeknd.  But on “Try Me”, he just sounds like a douche-bag who would probably try sleeping with your girlfriend.  I certainly do like the beat here, and Mike WiLL Made-It on production did a solid job with this atmosphere.  But this track isn’t nearly as captivating.  Abel certainly has the right idea, but it’s how far he takes this in the future that matters.  On the other hand, I actually think “Wasted Time” has some interesting stuff going on.  Skrillex of all people on production actually makes this one come off haunting, especially with those backing vocals floating in and out.  It’s a very hip sounding tune, one that sort of gets away from the suffocating atmosphere on the first few tracks.  Which yes, is sort of a bummer.  But it’s actually not that bad of a tune.  There are some seriously steamy moments here, which is always expected with The Weeknd.  And lyrically, I mean you know what to expect, he’s dangerous and horny, and that’s about it.  He does pull this track off nicely though, and this is a solid tune. 

    This EP creeps on with “I Was Never There”.  Now, once again this track goes way back down that sort of Electro-Funk route that Abel began testing out on “Starboy”, but it’s certainly a much bigger and more hulking sound, and it’s certainly more atmospheric.  Not to mention, Abel sounds like he’s ay his most hurt and vulnerable.  I actually seriously love how dark and hulking this one is, there’s a lot to really dig here.  But my issue with this EP is that a lot this is material is certainly good.  But Abel could have taken so much of this a lot further.  I think he sounds great, and this is easily the most non-commercial material he’s given us since “Echoes Of Silence”.  But it could be so much more. Then we have “Hurt You”, and I continue to think the very subtle nods to the Electro-Funk of “Starboy” are pretty great.  It should be seriously kept subtle though because it really does have that haunting, ‘morning after the party” sound.  As a matter of fact, just about everything about “Hurt You” is chilling.  And while this literally may contain some of the cheesiest, ridiculously awful lyrics The Weeknd has ever come through with, I think this actually does end up meshing with the tones of this album.  Not to mention, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk fame on production gives this track a seriously sleek edge.  While I don’t think this EP is perfect, I’m certainly enjoying this more than other Weeknd projects recently.  But before this EP is over Abel literally falls off completely with “Privilege”.  While other tracks had plenty to enjoy, I honestly can’t find a single thing about this track that registers with me.  This atmosphere is so flimsy, and Abel just sounds like he has no clue what he’s doing.  Other tracks here he’s sounded so dangerous, but here he sounds confused.  Some of these lyrics are incredibly cheesy, and there’s no decent production or anything to fall back on.  So no, this is not good, and this just proves that The Weeknd is still far from making the album we all want. 

Rating: 7.4/10

Give A Listen To: "Call Out My Name", "Wasted Time", "I was Never There", “Hurt You”

Genre: Alternative R&B / R&B

Overall Thoughts:  This EP actually isn't nearly as bad or a waste of time as I thought it would be.  As a matter of fact, a lot of this EP is a big step in the right direction for The Weeknd.  I'm not going to sit here and debate on whether Old or New Weeknd is better, both have their merits.  But for me, I love the dense atmospheres on this thing, and I love to hear Abel making himself out to be this dangerous figure once again.  For the most part, the production here is solid, and a lot of the ideas here are really good.  However, lyrically I think Abel is still at the lowest state in his career, and a lot of these very good ideas he just didn't push far enough.  That being said, Abel certainly has my attention back after a series of merely average studio albums.