“My Dear Melancholy” review

From the opening downtempo notes of The Weeknd’s new EP “My Dear Melancholy,” listeners are presented with a different Abel Tesfaye than the one who previously crooned, “I’m a [expletive] starboy.”

Gone is the confident, undaunted Tesfaye whose pop-filled “Starboy” topped charts, and in his place is a man whose confessional album appears just as bitter as the sting of his heartbreak.

Tesfaye’s back-to-back public breakups with both supermodel Bella Hadid and pop star Selena Gomez seemed like the necessary catalyst for producing an album reminiscent of the darker nascent  days of his R&B filled “Trilogy.”

 Fans rejoiced over Tesfaye’s return to moody lulls of love, after  his previous chart topper “Starboy” seemed like more of a synthetic push to dance to the top of charts than the heartfelt confessions of  a troubled man. However, does “My Dear Melancholy” truly deliver what fans were hoping from a darker Tesfaye?

The opening song, “Call Out My Name,” is the undoubted “single” of the album, if there is one on the short, 21-minute, six-song tracklist. The song earned the largest first-day Spotify stream count of any song released this year.

From the jump, it is clear that Tesfaye has abandoned the sweetness of commercialized pop music that characterized his previous album in favor of, as the album alludes, a more melancholic tone that initially made him into the star he is today. With lyrics such as, “You gave me comfort / but falling for you was my mistake,” it is clear that Tesfaye’s pain is taking center-stage of his new album.

The glory seems just short of being recaptured, however, and this is apparent as the second song, “Try Me,” begins playing. The two songs almost blend into each other, in a way that highlights not only Tesfaye’s consistency of sadness on the album, but also the somewhat banal repetitiveness of an album that is illusive and distant. The lyrics reveal an emotionally rattled Tesfaye, which is different than the confident and almost sociopathic tendencies of his previous lyrics. Tesfaye’s breakups certainly serve him to re-enter “Trilogy” territory, but this EP seems to be just a first step along the journey.

However, it’s unclear if he needs to return to that state to continue scaling the charts. With the already record-breaking numbers of “My Dear Melancholy,” listeners might have the answer.

Critics and fans alike seemed to enjoy the new album, with many fans jokingly thanking Selena Gomez for breaking Tesfaye’s heart at the expense of producing the music that they needed. Tesfaye even alludes to the possibility that he almost donated his kidney for Gomez, who had a transplant due to her suffering from the condition Lupus, in his lyrics, “I almost cut a piece of myself for your life.”

Gomez was not Tesfaye’s only recent breakup; his breakup with Bella Hadid also makes an appearance on the EP, with the song “Wasted Times” seeming to be a highlight of his still-lingering feelings for Hadid. Crooning “Wasted times I spent with someone else / she wasn’t even half of you” and later hinting in the song that his sexual desires for Hadid are still strong. It is in this song that the thesis of the EP takes form: “I ain’t got no business catchin’ feelings.”

Tesfaye laments on the softening of his emotions, and in this declaration, returns back to the indifferent hotshot of previous years, utilizing his pain as the purification that he seems to need to conquer his woe.

However, the album’s introspection falls short for something that still leans in pop territory.

This is not “Trilogy” part two, probably to many fans’ dismay. But, if they are seeking something that is more of a blend of his nihilistic approach in that album, with sounds closer to the popish “Starboy,” they will be satisfied with his latest plunge into murky territory.

Even so, Tesfaye seems to be increasingly aware that the darker tones of his music are what fans react positively to. With that in mind, perhaps future releases by Tesfaye will continue to emulate the style that originally made him into the star(boy) that he is today.