The Weeknd Has Arrived on ‘Beauty Behind the Madness’

Stephanie Hernandez

We’ve all been waiting for The Weeknd to arrive and now he finally has. Abel Tesfaye, the current leader in intoxicating melancholy slow jams, has captured the ears of millions across the world with his unique sound and aesthetic and now with his latest album, “Beauty Behind the Madness” he has officially taken the step from R&B enigma to bonafide pop star. The glamorously gloom tracks make the perfect transition from Tesfaye’s  2013’s “Kiss Land;” an ode to the impossibility of relationships and the internal struggles that yield only negative outcomes, The Weeknd has successfully turned solo sadness into the new cool kid soundtrack.

“Beauty Behind the Madness” is the fifth album from The Weeknd, counting his three mixtapes he released in 2011. Beginning on a solid foundation and fully realized sense of aesthetic, Tesfaye’s signature anti-soul, anxious R&B sound blend with his use of honest and often sexually tinged lyrics to create intriguingly bleak yet somehow easily danceable songs. Turning his personal dissection of love, hope and frustration into smooth pop tracks makes Tesfaye one of the most fascinating artists putting out work today. Inklings of high-class sexual excursions, lies, drugs, faithless women and male pleasure can all be found throughout the album, so well written the subject matter goes from low class chatter to exceptional reflection. The opening track, “Real Life” has to be the most sorrowful track ever delivered by someone with such a high register voice in the last decade. Lyrically a rationalization for insane decadence and his own nihilistic worldviews, “Tell ‘em this boy wasn’t meant for lovin’… Mama called me destructive/ Said it’d ruin me one day, yeah/ Cause every woman that loved me, oh yeah/I seemed to push away,” you can’t help but hate the guy and love his honesty. The Weeknd is pretty much the musical personification of an abusive relationship.

“Beauty Behind the Madness” can almost be looked upon as a concept album, with Tesfaye exploring the concept of fidelity and being able to accept and love himself enough to love someone else in return. With stand out tracks like gloriously funky The Night, Angel and the very Michael Jackson-esque Shameless – the record is equal parts up-tempo grooves and hedonistic lyrical destruction. A beautiful pairing between self-love and hate, indulgence and disgrace, “Beauty Behind the Madness” takes self-loathing to a completely new, almost euphoric level. By the end of it you find a space inside you begging to feel what The Weeknd has just laid before you, but the better half of your brain pulls away and tells you maybe it’s better to admire from afar.

No one does stark dance pop like Tesfaye. His jaded view on monogamy and socially accepted relationship constructs are sure to resonate with the current generation of pessimistic daters out there.

His sumptuous ballads and smooth lyrical validations of his own questionable actions are in fact the best on the airwaves today. The Weeknd clearly cranks out his best work when feeling unfulfilled and empty, “I’m addicted to a life that’s so empty and cold,” so here’s to hoping The Weeknd stays unsatisfied, for our playlist’s sake.

The Weeknd’s “Beauty Behind the Madness” is available on Apple Music Aug. 28.