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The Weeknd – Beauty Behind the Madness

August 25, 2015

At the age of 25, Canadian R&B singer The Weeknd is set to drop his second studio album, Beauty Behind the Madness, on Friday, and while the record is still pending an official release, nearly half of its tracks have already had success as chart-topping singles. Abdel Tesfaye, the man behind The Weeknd, possesses a uniquely contemporary sound that acts as a soundtrack for the restless and experimental youth of today, leading critics to categorize Tesfaye’s sound as PBR&B, a genre alternative to R&B. As a whole, Beauty Behind the Madness gives you what you’d expect from The Weeknd: sex, drugs, partying, more sex, and lots of falsetto. Despite Tesfaye’s frequent recycling of these themes, he manages to spin them in an irresistible way that will have you humming along, whether you want to or not. Following 2013’s Kiss Land, which was, in my opinion, a considerably mundane album, Beauty[...]

Column 27: 50 Shades of Problems and a Grey is One

March 4, 2015

Over the past month, 50 Shades of Grey has been a near inescapable pop culture phenomenon. The film broke all kinds of box office records, its cast has been everywhere in the media, and has been the subject of all kinds of controversy. The film also banked a lot of its marketing on the strength of its soundtrack. Each 50 Shades of Grey trailer teased that the film would feature a reworked version of Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love,” and it seemed as if a single from the soundtrack was released every week leading up to the film’s release. So for a movie that promoted its soundtrack that heavily, does it live up to the hype? The answer to that question is a bit complicated. The soundtrack itself features a host of really beautiful songs from some of best upcoming names in contemporary pop music. British R&B singer, Laura Welsh, provides one[...]

The Weeknd – “Earned It”

January 23, 2015

Apparently there’s this movie coming out in a few weeks that’s based on a series of erotic novels that you can buy at Target called Fifty Shades Of Grey, and it will be a huge hit because all of our neighbors who’ve bought the books at Target will bumrush theaters down the street from Target to see if the movie measures up. The soundtrack for 50 Shades Of Grey, also available at Target, will include sexed up contributions from artists like Beyonce, Sia,  Ellie Goulding, Jessie Ware, The Rolling Stones (yes! “Beast Of Burden!”), and Toronto’s very own The Weeknd, who’s featured in the first video off of that soundtrack, the mildly NSFW “Earned It.” Actually, The Weeknd (aka Abel Tesfaye) doesn’t need to sex up his music any more than it already is, and based on this clip featuring Grey lead actress Dakota Johnson, this could well be the[...]