The WeekndHouse of Balloons
Self-released

The Weeknd have become surprisingly massive in a very short time. At the start of the year, no one had heard of the act, but now they boast over two-hundred thousand downloads of their free debut mix-tape/lp, House of Balloons, a staggeringly impressive achievement, particularly when it’s been almost entirely through word of mouth (admittedly it helps when one of those mouths is fellow Torontonian Drake). So what is it that’s brought this sudden surge of popularity?

House of Balloons shows a very distinct R&B pop sensibility, catchy hooks and slinky beats, but with a modernist electronic twist. Falling into the same realm as other current indie darlings James Blake and How To Dress Well, but darker - this is music resolutely pitched at the late night. 3am, when the drugs are pushing down, the regrets of the next day are starting to glimmer, and you’re sure as hell not dancing alone. This is a dark album lyrically and musically, but it’s also one of the straight sexiest releases you’re going to hear all year.

Abel Tesfaye’s vocals are stunning, and you could easily imagine him successfully fronting far more traditional R&B fare. There is a certain amount of auto tune used on House of Balloons, but it reminded me more of Sufjan than Kanye, used for artistic effect rather than necessity. The beauty of the album is that the singing, impressive as it is, stands as only an element of the songs and the tracks are just as enjoyable when his voice is dragged back into the mix as they are when the vocals are prominent.

The lyrical content is twisted, but well written, and shows a surprising level of vulnerability for the genre. Lines like “Bring your love, baby, I can bring my shame/Bring the drugs, baby, I can bring my pain.” and “The only girls that we fuck with / seem to have twenty different pills in em” show a definite pathos, along with the prevalent theme of drug use that suffuses the album. There are occasional moments of typical misogyny and braggadocio, but in the context of the album it’s fairly restrained and inoffensive.

The production of the album is very solid as well, and while it seems to be following the current trend, The Weeknd are certainly pushing the limits and establishing themselves as an future influence to watch. Dubstep, off-kilter Hip-Hop and House all sit as foundations (Flying Lotus and Kanye West are the most obvious influences), but with tracks sampling the likes of Beach House and Siouxsie and the Banshees there’s a whole lot more going on here. Despite everything that’s packed into the album though, it feels stripped back. The producers have done a great job of removing anything unnecessary and the tracks are very lean because of it.

House of Balloons is by no means a perfect album, with five tracks that are merely decent, but the four best tracks (High For This, House of Balloons, Wicked Games and Loft Music) are enough to recommend any album, and it will be interesting to see where The Weeknd goes next. Based off this release he has the potential to become hugely successful and rumours that he’s been working with Drake certainly can’t hurt that. The only question is whether he’s prepared to stick to music this resolutely dark, and whether the general public will run with it if he does. For me though, this is an incredibly successful album and leaves me very excited for his next release Thursday rumoured to be dropping in the next few months.

House of Balloons is out now and available for free through the band’s official site: www.the-weeknd.com

-Sky Kirkham

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