Back before he was everywhere, The Weeknd was mysterious, spooky and weird.
He made darkly obsessive and always askew music that was massively influential on contemporary R&B. Over the years, The Weeknd's music lost its subtlety as he grew unabashed in his courtship of the mainstream.
My Dear Melancholy, a break-up album, is of note because wearing sadness on his sleeve has nudged him back towards making music that is ultimately more pleasing precisely because it isn't so eager to please.
Another good thing about it is that it is actually an EP, and at only six songs and 22 minutes, its self-pity doesn't have time to grow cloying.
Expect to see more big-name acts putting out between-album, less-than-full-length works, as attention spans shrink.
- Dan DeLuca/TCA
