Who is the The Weekend? He is Abel Tesfaye. Abel Tesfaye IS The Weeknd. Right this very minute as you are reading this open up YouTube and fire in "The Weekend-Trilogy" or buy it straight off iTunes. Trust me on this you will NOT regret it. Sit back and listen to his blissful voice. Zone out and really listen. He is the ultimate cure with his harmony whilst singing he will have you hooked as soon as his unique tone falls upon your ears. For despite its deceptive, collective-implying name, the latest big name in RnB is a single individual from Canada.
After House Of Balloons surfaced around early March, 2011 I fell deeper for Abel's music on his voice alone. I found myself searching more and more about him and scouring YouTube for more of the addictive voice he possesses. Stumbling then across his website, there I found the offering of his drug all for free. He epitomises the word alluring. His music is a compilation of stories concerning a life of house parties which are drug and drink fuelled and it all being hazy and forgotten the next day. This is opposite to what we are used to hearing in todays music. Like the glamorous club and sex outings which embodies mainstream RnB stories today. His electro-influenced beats in addition with atmospheric zoned out synths and super-80's snare sounds paints this picture of an aftermath. An aftermath of the hazy hangovers from these foggy and smoke-filled parties almost as if the feeling lingers forever in your system even after you get over it. Have a listen.
What I adore about Tesfaye, is the raw honesty that comes across through his music. It isn't like most artists these days where the music is dressed up in crude words in order to increase street cred. His high register alone bares his heart and soul out in every song, an amalgamation of an innocent yet extremely effective tone. Lyrics which make you think twice due to the ambiguity behind them and the way he has us tapping into his psyche. The blunt and frankness to his lyrical style works. I remember on the day of Thursdays release fans eagerly flocked his website to gain access to his new material, and the site crashed.
It's almost as if, you crave to be transported into his world. A few beats into the hypnotic strains of "The Zone" (featuring Drake) or "High For This" you are indeed instantly transported to this hazy half-remembered world.
"From the morning to the evening,
complains from the tenants,
got the walls kicking like they six months pregnant
drinking Aliza with our cereal for breakfast,
girls calling cabs at dawn quarter-to-seven"
Yet for all the decadence of these parties we hear about through-out the whole album, one assumes that this is the enjoyment party-goers or ultimate achievers of the music industry strive for. However, as we conclude with the final mixtape, Echoes Of Silence- we come to realise that Tesfaye is not some wild, indestructible ecstasy appreciating neanderthal, but a significant human protagonist with self-conflicts, troubles and personal problems. A shrouded figure who will never be able to understand fully.
His two vocal moods; through out this "character" he portrays, one being a swoony croon that gives way once he's high (see The Wicked Games video) and the other being severely sinister. Think of it almost as a byronic hero on heroin.
The dude who goes to house parties, skulks hidden in a corner somewhere. His cover for Dirty Diana- MJ for example. I am a HUGE and die-hard fan of Michael Jackson and have always been skeptical of any artist trying to cover any of his songs. However if you listen to it he really does it justice. His high note when he hits it as the chorus kicks in is a chilling homage to MJ's voice. In fact when I initially first heard House Of Balloons I was reminded of MJ's voice.This alone is an enormous accomplishment in itself. He is musically seductive and intoxicating and borderline sociopath lyrically.
Guaranteed once you spend time with his album alone, the sinister, nocturnal and almost predatory tone will have you forever a fan and hooked.
I leave you with his latest, Enemy (not on The Trilogy Album)
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