The Weeknd: House of Balloons

The Weeknd
House of Balloons
Rating: Woof Daddy

Not much is known about mysterious Toronto R&B collective The Weeknd, other than it is the project of 20-year-old singer/ songwriter Abel Tesfaye from Toronto, and that he has drawn the attention of fellow Canadian Drake. After teasing us with several singles, The Weeknd has released a free mixtape, House of Balloons, that can be downloaded here. The 9 songs are generally long, slow jams; creating a sustained mood of desperation, emptiness, and doubt. The music is lush and haunting, perfectly coinciding with the hedonistic tales set forth.

House of Balloons is all about mood. Frequently oppressive, steeped in loneliness, the narrators in the songs searching for pleasure to compensate for the emptiness that is never filled. It is a difficult album to listen to straight through, as there is little joy or light in this dark world. This singular approach, however, works, and the production and song writing quality is so strong, it cannot be dismissed.

Things get off bleakly with "High For This," with the narrator attempting to get his girl to perform some unknown, bizarre sexual act, which becomes all about his needs and not hers:



One of the standout tracks is the dual "House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls" taking a sample of Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Happy House," ironically observing a house that is anything but, merging into the dark electro of "Glass Table Girls," descending into the dark world of an after-party:



Although there is always a paranoid, dark mood lurking somewhere in each of the songs, this is not to say the album is not beautiful. The music is frequently gorgeous. "The Morning," works over lush synth washes and Aaliyah/Timbaland space beats; describing the hard life of women who use their bodies to make money:



"The Party and the After-Party," glides against a mutated Beach House sample:



The final three songs for a devastating triptych. "Coming Down," chronicles a man realizing his debauched lifestyle is ruining his relationship, his vocals getting more and more frantic as the song progresses:



In "Loft Music," he returns to his old ways, working too many women, the only goal being getting them in bed; but the loneliness is always there, the atmospheric dropout in the middle of the song being the perfect representation:



Ending with the fantastic track "The Knowing," the narrator punishing his girlfriend for his own sins. It becomes a difficult song to listen to, with the narrator pouring salt in deep wounds, oblivious to the serious pain and problems he has. His vocals culminating in a tortured wail:



I know I have painted this album as a bleak affair, but it is more complex than that. The music and vocals are frequently stunning, and it takes several listens before you really start hearing the lyrics and what they are exposing. The layers of House of Balloons are numerous, and multiple listens begin to peel them back one by one. It is a stunning debut, that hopefully foreshadows even greater things to come.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.