Once upon a time, The Weeknd was poised to be indie-R&B’s most grim and gloomy figure with the release of his moody and ominous mixtapes, later to be repackaged and referred to simply as Trilogy. Instead of lingering in this unique, more sinister take on traditional R&B, the last few years have seen The Weeknd drive towards a more accessible style. His studio debut, Kiss Land was sonically ambitious, foreign, and luxe, but fell flat due to it’s uninspired lyrics and lack of conceptual depth. It became clear that Abel was trying to ditch his callous, sexually explicit themes to head down lyrical avenues that offered more emotional depth, but on Kiss Land, it culminated into a diluted, impotent version of his opus mixtapes. On his second studio album, Beauty Behind The Madness, The Weeknd has successfully pivoted into an effective, full-out pop lane, and although the record will boldly translate into radio formats and the masses, the core of the lengthy record will still come across noticeably hollow.

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