The Weeknd released his new album Beauty Behind the Madness on August 28th and after listening to it, I can promise you that there is plenty of both Beauty and Madness. Abel Tesfaye, also known as The Weeknd, has been crowned the new “king of pop,” but this may be the darkest pop album you’ll ever listen to. It’s been one of the most anticipated albums of the year with Lana Del Rey and Ed Sheeran making appearances in songs. Tesfaye also threw in some of his most well known singles from the past few months like “Often” and “Can’t Feel My Face.”
With songs focusing around “adult” topics, this album is more R rated than PG-13; I definitely wouldn’t play it in the car on the way to school if you drive a younger sibling. That being said, if you don’t, every song on this album will make you want to turn the volume up and sing along. Some of the standouts from this album include:
“In the Night”
“In the Night” is my favorite song on this album. It’s catchy and a bit more upbeat than the majority of the other songs. The chorus is easy to sing along to and it’s even easier to get stuck in your head.
“Losers”
“Losers” might not be Trinity’s favorite song on the album (most likely because the first line of the song is “only losers go to school”), but it’s definitely catchy! The main theme of the song is one of independence. With lyrics like “stupid’s next to I love you,” The Weeknd talks about how easy it is to get hurt when you lean on someone or something too much. Everyone can relate to this; whether it’s a boyfriend, girlfriend or just a friend, when you open yourself up, it’s easy to get hurt.
“Dark Times”
Ed Sheeran makes a guest appearance on “Dark Times” and things get interesting because of how different Ed Sheeran sounds compared to Tesfaye. It’s an awesome fusion of R&B, pop and a little bit of folk. Sheeran and Tesfaye sing about this “not being the right time to fall in love with them.” One lyric, “only my mother could love me” gets pretty depressing but hey, dark times, dark song, what did you expect?
“Prisoner”
“Prisoner” is the song that has everybody talking. Lana Del Rey came in and killed it, like she does with pretty much everything. Their styles and unique voices seem to mesh together perfectly. This also happens to be the only song that starts off with a somewhat happy message of “you bring good to my lonely life.” It ends with a strange spoken part by Lana but, if you’re willing to skip the end of the song then it’s pretty great.
“Often”, “Earned It”, “The Hills” and “Can’t Feel My Face”
Tesfaye also added his four top songs into the album in case it wasn’t already good enough. “Earned It” was the song that put him on my map when it was featured on the 50 Shades of Grey soundtrack. “Often” and “The Hills” constantly battle it out for my all-time favorite Weeknd song, and everyone has at least one memory of dancing in the car to “Can’t Feel My Face.” These four songs just sweetened the deal.
