By Eric Furth
Staff Writer
The Weeknd astounds with invigorating, rich instrumentals and vivid new singing styles in his new album, “Beauty Behind the Madness”.
“Beauty Behind the Madness” deviates from The Weeknd’s soprano tones and repetitive hip-hop instrumentals in his first album by supplementing them with guest singers and producers such as Kanye West and Lana Del Rey on almost every track of the album, inviting a new world of interesting, captivating musical types. The album succeeds with a smooth track flow,
Abel Tesfaye first started his career by posting his music on youtube under his stage name, “The Weeknd,” which he is still known by. The Weeknd is a Canadian-based rap/hip-hop artist from Ontario who released his first studio album in 2013 called “Kiss Land” after releasing several mixtapes in 2011.
“Beauty Behind the Madness” is The Weeknd’s second studio album produced by XO and Republic Records. The album has reached number one on the Billboard 200 and three of its songs have held the top three spots on the Billboard Hot R&B songs chart.
In the song “Losers,” The Weeknd is accompanied by fellow rapper Labrinth to create a phenomenal duet dynamic between the two. Labrinth’s rich range of vocal pitch and musical direction combined with The Weeknd’s naturally soft voice makes for one of the most catchy and enjoyable songs on the album.
Each song expresses itself as a new genre or style than the last, creating much-needed musical diversity which was previously absent from “Kiss Land.” Each guest star featured on the album contributes enough of their own musical style to create diversity without overshadowing The Weeknd, leading to interesting combinations and unique sounds never before explored on a Weeknd album.
A majority of the songs on the album encompass stereotypical rap subjects, such as sexual endeavors, involvement in the drugs, and violence against others. The Weeknd and the featured artists on the album delicately convey these taboo messages without coming off too aggressively.
The track order also proves to flow extremely well, allowing for smooth transitions. For example, the song “ The Hills” complements both “Often” and “Acquainted”, providing a perfect transition between all three of these songs with each song starting and finishing on low notes. This flow is one of the album’s greatest strengths, providing listeners with 65 minutes and 24 seconds of pure auditory bliss without the need to skip between or over tracks to get the most out of the album.
The song “The Hills” describes Weeknd’s retrospection on a previous engagement with a woman, describing how shallow he finds himself to be while conveying his destructive habits of drug abuse, abandonment, and priority of sexual benefits rather than a meaningful relationship. Incorporating new musical techniques found prevalently in other songs, the overall morally incorrect message of the song is softened and made listenable. Many similar instances occur in other songs which incorporate such dark, primarily themes and overtones.
Weeknd’s evolution from a monotonous, predictable rapper into a diverse, varied musician in his second album exemplifies his ability to evolve as an artist and foreshadows a bright future in the music industry. Each song now has a defined, crisp sound unlike any previous track released by The Weeknd thus far in his career.
“Beauty Behind the Madness” is available for purchase for $9.99 digitally and in stores.
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