By Thomas Cottingham
Features Assignment Editor
After releasing his Grammy-award winning album, Beauty Behind the Madness, The Weeknd went straight back to the lab to work on his next project, Starboy. The Weeknd, who is known for his seductive lyrics, moody beats and killer voice, made a sharp turn to make his new record cheerful and pop friendly.
Starboy still displays the essence of The Weeknd with songs about women, love, partying and being young, but with futuristic beats and splashes of vintage pop influence. The dance duo of Daft Punk, famous for their robot personas and otherworldly dance music, appears in the tracks “Starboy” and “I Feel It Coming,” the opener and closer to the record.
The Weeknd’s voice in “I Feel It Coming” sounds similar to Michael Jackson’s gentle and high hitting voice. The smooth and gentle beat also captures the sound of a 80s love song with a futuristic twist, thanks to Daft Punk’s robotic vocals.
The party aspect of The Weeknd is definitely heard on the record. “False Alarm,” second lead single of the album, brings extremely fiery, fast-paced lines of mania with loud party horns and could be used for an intense light show.
“Party Monster,” just as the name intends, brings in the fun of being the life of the party. The addicted, catchy and heavily autotuned hook makes this song a real exciting part of the beginning of the album.
The Weeknd does not have many features in his new project, but his solo songs pack an intense punch of emotion, whether its hype or feels. The track “Reminder” is one of the seldom tracks where The Weeknd uses his singing-rapping flows and spits bars. This drug-infused tune is there to show that The Weeknd hasn’t left his roots behind and can still bring new, fresh music with the same concept from his older work.
This album is different because instead of detailing dark songs about lust and druggy overtones, Starboy brings out the lighter, happier side of The Weeknd’s collection of music. The beautiful track, “Die for You” blasts a spacey wonder of an instrumental while The Weeknd breaks down his feelings for a woman who left him.
Although most of the album is mainly The Weeknd, the short amount of features sprinkled nicely on tracks make each one a real experience. Kendrick Lamar, who has been having an insane amount of guest features this year, appears on one of the best tracks, “Sidewalks.” The drifty, high pitch guitar tune along with The Weeknd’s strangely autotune voice works well with the production, and Lamar’s verse is the high point of a great track.
Other features include Lana Del Ray, who appears on her own interlude with The Weeknd, “Stargirl Interlude,” and Future who appears on “Six Feet Under” and “All I Know.” Future and The Weeknd have a good chemistry thanks to working together previously, so the songs featuring the Atlanta rapper flows naturally. Del Ray performs a very delicate and soft spoken love song with The Weeknd that is packaged nicely halfway through the record. The few contributors did their job to help out with the project, and did it to their best abilities.
Overall, Starboy is a present day pop album that blends with trends from today and from the past. Some songs might be labeled as “filler,” but when it comes to The Weeknd, his charisma, voice and beat selection always welcome listener to stay a little longer.
cottintf14@bonaventure.edu
