The Weeknd | Enemy

The Weeknd posted a new track, “Enemy”, on YouTube. It’s another sexy R&B-laced cut, but what gives this one a little twist is the borrowed lyric from The Smiths’, “Please, Please Please Let Me Get What I Want”, the b-side to 1984’s “William, It Was Really Nothing.” In a way, it’s that kind of thing that shows what makes The Weeknd so different from other R&B-based singer-songwriters. There’s a crossover into styles of music that includes the appreciation of perhaps the greatest band to ever play music, next to The Beatles. No word yet on what Mr. Moz thinks about this usage, but my guess is he’s completely oblivious, and will simply ignore it when he hears of it. The Smiths song is a melancholy number holding out hope amid despair, based on Johnny Marr’s memories of hearing Del Shannon’s 1962 “The Answer To Everything”. But The Weeknd has other things in mind, namely losing himself inside a woman, literally. He’s tailored the phrase, “Let me please, please, please get what I want this time” to fit his desire. This song arrives in time to push his upcoming release, “The Trilogy”, out November 13. Sorry folks, but this song won’t be in the collection. — David D. Robbins Jr.

The Weeknd | Rolling Stone (Video)

The Weeknd (aka Abel Tesfaye) released a video a couple of days ago, that I’ve been enjoying. It’s for his song, “Rolling Stone”, off the record, “Thursday”. The Weeknd re-releases his trilogy via Universal on November 26, re-mastered and with three new tracks. I’ve been a huge fan of his music, from back when he first starting posting songs for free online, and hid himself behind the tunes. (Last year, Their Bated Breath named his record one of the best of 2011.) But with music this good, it’s hard to stay anonymous for too long. It only seems natural that prettiness of R&B melodies run into a more indie sense of musical presentation. That’s what you have with folks like The Weeknd, How to Dress Well, and Frank Ocean. It doesn’t hurt, that The Weeknd writes well too, like in “Rolling Stone” — where he mixes imagery of toking, and “Jack and the Beanstalk” mythology with sensuality and hip-hop bravado: “Cause getting faded too long / Got me on this rolling stone / So I take another hit / Kill another seroton (sic) / With a handful of beans / And a chest full of weed / Got me singing ’bout a bitch / While I’m blowing out my steam / Yeah, I know I got my issues / Why you think I fuckin’ flow? / And I’ma keep on smoking ’til I can’t hit another note.” — David D. Robbins Jr.

TOP GIRLS | High For This (The Weeknd Cover)

Here’s Top Girls’ new cover of The Weeknd’s track “High For This”, the first song off his 2011 record, “House of Balloons” — named one of the Top 15 LPs of the year by Their Bated Breath. Listen below. Follow Top Girls at bandcamp and on facebook. Top Girls is scheduled to release a new record, Jan. 17, 2012 called “After Life”. — David D. Robbins Jr.

THE WEEKND | Echoes of Silence

The Weeknd (aka Abel Tesfaye) dropped a new free nine-song mixtape today called “Echoes of Silence”, the follow up to “House of Balloons” and “Thursday”. Listen to a track, “Initiation”, below. Download the mix for free courtesy of the artist’s website here. (The mixtape begins with a rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana”.) His site was crashing off and on, so if you fail at first, try it again. The Weeknd’s “House of Balloons” was named No. 3 on Their Bated Breath’s “Top 15 LPs of 2011” list earlier today. — David D. Robbins Jr.
The Weeknd “Initiation”

THE WEEKND | Initiation

The Weeknd, the stage name of Toronto singer-rapper Abel Tesfaye, posted a new song off his upcoming record, “Echoes of Silence”, which was scheduled to be out sometime this fall. “Initiation” is a taste of what’s to come. It’s another highly wanton dance mix of soul and eery electronics with verses alluding to oral sex and ‘riding one out’. You can download the track for free via The Weeknd XO website. This single follows on the heels of The Weeknd remixing Florence And The Machine’s “Shake It Out” last week. — David D. Robbins Jr.
The Weeknd “Initiation”

THE WEEKND | Thursday

The Weeknd (aka Abel Tesfaye) released a nine-song mixtape called “Thursday”, the follow-up to his buzz-inducing “House of Balloons”, which is one of Their Bated Breath’s records of the year so far. The new record begins with “Lonely Star”, a dark track with lovely high-falsetto and a piano-driven sexual explosiveness. It moves in and out of elegance and eccentricity. Seven of the songs are around six minutes or longer, with the highly creative, soulful “Gone” clocking in at a whopping nine minutes plus. It’s easy to hear that The Weeknd is working with at a different production level, the vocals on a song like “Life of the Party” coming over crisply, with high treble. The songs also uses a heavily-sexualized and syncopated bass beat, and some hard rock guitar. There are even more ambient noises and experimental forays twisted neo-soul on this new album. “Thursday” is an album that is both warm and yet feels like it’s sung from some kind of space isolation, overlapping vocal harmonies, electronic pings and atmospheric scuttle swirl and release intermittently behind his vocals. At the core, it’s still a sensual album. Perhaps more romantic crooner than pursuer — when comparing it to “House of Balloons”. But Tesfaye is still singing about pulling in the ladies and party time. However, there are some isolating moments on the new album that feel like a person being lost in space. The title song, “Thursday”, ends with haunting single piano keys fading out into the lonely distance, picking up with the record-player hiss of the next track, “The Zone”. This is another round of gorgeous music from The Weeknd. You can download the record at his website here. — David D. Robbins Jr.

The Weeknd “The Birds Part 1”