Critiques CD: The Weeknd | Echoes of Silence

Remember the days when inoffensive acts like Boyz II Men and SWV ruled the R&B kingdom? Who’d have thought things would ever get as lyrically bleak and rhythmically woozy as with Toronto’s reclusive prince of darkness, Abel Tesfaye? On his third self-released mixtape in under 9 months, the future-R&B crooner reaches a flawless climax where tales of self-loathing, heartbreak and lustful indulgences are concerned. While the album doesn’t quite outdo House of Balloons’ production mastery, it’s more sophisticated lyrically (“XO/The Host” is a chillingly creepy call to submission) and risky in all the right ways – that love-gone-awry falsetto on “Montreal”, a leftfield nod to the Gainsbourg-penned “Laisse tomber les filles”, and “D.D.”, his plaintive, drum-pounding take on MJ’s “Dirty Diana”. A dangerous, debaucherous future king of pop?