Without much warning, The Weeknd dropped a new project on March 30, My Dear Melancholy. While the short and sweet six-song release is the official follow-up to his 2016 double-platinum commercial opus Starboy, it’s in many ways a shedding of his newfound king-off pop appeal and retreat back to the confessional booth.
While both Starboy and 2015’s blockbuster Beauty Behind The Madness, managed to increasingly brighten up his darker fare for a commercial audience — and even exaggerate it at points — My Dear Melancholy leans on heartache, with a sound that suggests it was recorded in a dark smoke filled room.
From the onset of “Call Out My Name,” which sonically sounds like a more depressing version of “Earned It,” the EP seems to follow an indistinguishable amount of time during which a relationship is lost, revelations are made, and love is eventually ousted in favor of past ways. Many fans of the singer have speculated that the muse in question —who assassinated his heart — was none other Selena Gomez, with whom who he suddenly split late last year. The details get surreal here, such as the suggestion that he almost gave her a kidney: “I said I didn’t feel nothing, baby, but I lied/ I almost cut a piece of myself for your life.”
Following that theory, which is plausible (and probably accurate), “Try Me” — with its booming 808s — is a direct message that he would be waiting should she come to her senses. The Jodeci-esque vibe of “Wasted Times” could plausibly be Tesfaye professing to his ex, Bella Hadid, that he was simply wasting his time with Gomez, and she was his true love. “I don’t wanna wake up, If you ain’t layin’ next to me,” he repeats in the outro.
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“I Was Never There,” is a breaking point where he — hitting rock bottom — sounds almost suicidal, before he shifts to the next stage in the process, acceptance. “Hurt You,” a darker instrumental reworking of “I Feel It Coming,” sees Tesfaye professing that he’s pretty much the worst at relationships, so runaway (à la Kanye).
The project ends with “Privilege,” which is a proclamation of “new number who dis”, as he sings “back to my old way … I got two red pills to take the blues away.”
Those who fell in love with the new-age disco gloss that saw Weeknd packing dance floors and earning comparisons to a reincarnated Michael Jackson may be thrown off by this project. Melancholy, is ultimately a throwback to the mystique propelled in his earlier work, like Echoes Of Silence, while the noticeable scars on his heart give it more dimension.
Yes, it’s true the mini-album doesn’t break any new ground, and — as he’s done in the past — revisits elements of previous projects. However, without the bloated tracklist of Starboy, and any attempt to please an audience outside of his core, the lack of innovation doesn’t seem take away from the concise, focused, conceptual nature of this well-produced R&B gem (thanks to Frank Dukes, Mike Will Made It and several other notables).
What we’ll get next from Tesfaye is as mysterious as he is, but for now, he has seemingly brushed off the glitter.
Nowhere near House of Balloons, Echoes of Silence or Thursday. Only song worth listening to on this is “Privilege” and the rest is as pop sounding as Starboy was, but it’s The Weeknd so you know it’s gonna be overhyped.
SOunds nothing like starboy.
you sir are an idiot. Is nothing like starboy. His new fans are like what is this. Same people that didn’t recognize his talent till he became a popstar. True fans of music on the other hand are happy to get the old vibes we loved in the first place back. No it’s not the same. But it is more like that era.
Weeknd best in his lane. Doesn’t disappoint.
6ix maintaining its elite status in urban music.
Meh idk
Not feeling this
im still wondering how people can get trilogy vibes from this ep – this is far away from those golden days.
ok peter. let me break it down for you since you don’t have ears. Unless you want to just listen to them all and then use your own mind. Does this album sound anything like the last ones? Or does it sound more like the trilogy. Hmmmm
Here is a hint. No obvious hit singles or dance stuff.
Boy you’re crazy. This album sounds nothing like Trilogy. This sounds like B-Sides from BBTM. Don’t get me wrong, the album is still amazing, but the production is way tot clean and the vocals are a little too polished for it to be something that was on trilogy. The only song that sounds like it can be on trilogy is “Call Out My Name”.
exactly fam
It’s a cool throwback to the trilogy era with a current sound but without any of the highlights of those albums, no song stood out to me to that level but it’s a cool direction to go towards to, excited to see what he does next with it, whether an actual album or the continuation of this one. Since it only has 6 songs, I’m guessing he has more music coming
Fan since “Beauty Behind The Madness” so i can’t talk about his old days and all of that stuff. I must say that i enjoyed the past two albums and because of that i was unsure if i’d like this one. Grateful surprise, it’s a very deep EP, without any really danceable tracks but cool and dark vibes, you’re able to feel Abel’s emotions in every single note. I really loved it.
Best Tracks: “Call Out My Name” and “Privilege”
5 out of 5. Wish it had more tracks thou but I’m not complaining
“This ep aint got no hits”
All 6 songs in top 12 on Spotify….
Reminds of trilogy which is fantastic, I don’t like most of The Weeknds pop shit. Great album but is overrated just as any project from a big name would be (Migos, Drake, Travis Scott and Quavo)
I honestly don’t get the appeal of his music, especially when he is in full whiney mode like this. Great voice but mediocre everything else.