REVIEW: The Weeknd - House Of Balloons

The Weeknd
House of Balloons
(out of 5)

I get a strong feeling that The Weeknd’s Abel Tesfaye has dropped the “e” in “weekend” because he, well, drops a few of those deceptive little ‘happy pills’ himself once Friday draws to a close.

House of Balloons opening track 'High For This' says it all really. Fusing melt-in-your-face - or should I say “nasal passage” - lines of dubstep with Tesfaye’s seductive crooning, the sordid tale of a drug-fuelled top-of-the-tower cocaine party is told. “Trust me, girl”, he quips. She shouldn’t. The drugs will wear off, and she’ll just have another regret to add to her long list of sorrows.  “You don’t know what’s in store”; she should actually just get out of there - I don’t think he has the most innocent of intentions.

The Weeknd - High For This

The song sets the tone for a record whose architecture consists of a glass-panelled penthouse suite and all the sex and drugs you could possibly stuff in it. Like some kind of 80s metropolitan crime-thriller, Tesfaye is the main character of his own fear-and-loathing hedonism-borne experience. He claims to be “the drug in your veins”, and there is a definite addictive quality to what he has produced both musically and lyrically here.  All we have to do is “watch us chase it/with a handful of pills/no chasers”.

Though Tesfaye may be a self-confessed player, it doesn’t shield him from the heartbreak us mere mortals must sometimes endure. Waking up in 'The Morning', he realises that “the money is the motive”. He “made that money rain” and “pulled (the girl) for riches”, only to find her leaving with more than his wallet. Despite the allure of lust and filthy lucre, all we are left with is the shell of a man ripped apart by the hollow promises of satiated pleasure. True love may be free, but sex in the city sure isn’t. 'Coming Down' is another track explained through its title. “He always wants you when he is coming down” - when you take a step back to think about it, the whole concept of drugged-up “love” is kind of immature.

Maybe it’s the heartbreaker in him that has made him lose faith in that all-enduring concept. 'Wicked Games' is a raw tell-all of Tesfaye’s own journey on the confusing roller-coaster of love. On one hand “he left his girl back home/he don’t love her no more”, but a minute later he’s “got his heart right here”, openly wearing his narcotic-revealed insecurities, despite the spiritual wounds such openness can, and probably will, inflict.

The hurt is compounded totally in closing track 'The Knowing'. Call it intuition, but he “knows everything”; “you probably know that you’d break his heart” - you were right.

The Weeknd - The Knowing

Despite the at-times conscious-numbing lyrics, the production behind the sublime content of House of Balloons is just plain cool. Subtle and subdued beats (for the most part), and intentionally-placed samples - the dreamy take from Beach House’s 'Gila' in 'Loft Music'makes my heart skip a beat! - fill out the corners of The Weeknd’s dark-yet-strangely-sorrow-filled fantasies. In saying that, I wouldn’t suggest taking on such illusions yourself. They’re probably not that healthy. Hugs not drugs, kids.

Written by Theo Sangster.