This was supposed to be it. This was supposed to be The Weeknd’s return to what many consider his peak form. A return to the moody and dark vibes that hung like a smoky haze over his debut series of mixtapes, compiled on Trilogy. It’s not like people thought this without reason, either. Travis Scott was quoted a week or two ago as saying that this Weeknd project was “Like when I first heard him for the first time.” Artistically, all signs pointed to retro Weeknd as well. The album cover for My Dear Melancholy, suggested a dark, cramped aesthetic with Abel’s face only partially in the picture frame, hidden by shadow. Even the title, My Dear Melancholy, pointed towards a dark, emotional album.

As you can probably tell by now, this album is not Trilogy. In fact, it’s not really even an album. Though the brief hype before its release declared it as a new album, it’s actually a 6 song EP. In terms of stylistic comparisons to past Weeknd projects, My Dear Melancholy, is much more Beauty Behind the Madness than Trilogy. The production on this project is far too clean, too perfected to have any of the raw emotion that made Trilogy so powerful. The beats on this project tend to have pop-influenced drum patterns, and are almost all uniformly organized in the traditional chorus-verse song structure. While there is obvious pop influence (How could there not be after Starboy?) this EP is definitely not a pop project. Instead, it exists in its own sort of limbo in between glitzy pop and unrefined R&B. I think that one of my friends put it best when he said that it “was like it was produced by pop producers, who didn’t want to make a pop record.”

None of this is to say that this is a bad record. A few songs on My Dear Melancholy, are legitimately very well put together and performed songs. Some Weeknd fans may be satisfied with Abel’s half turn away from the pop heavy Starboy, while others may be less impressed. Personally, I can’t help but be a little disappointed that Abel didn’t shun his recent pop influence and embrace his roots. After all, this was supposed to be it.

Highlight

Call Out My Name- By far my favorite song on the album, Call Out My Name is both the catchiest and least pop influenced record on the album. I love the way that the heavy drums in this song hit home as Abel belts out “So call out my name.” I also think that the distortion applied to Abel’s voice on the back half of the song gives the track a gritty and unrefined feeling sorely missing from recent projects. Vocally, Abel seems determined to show the power and depth of his voice on this track instead of his signature vocal range, and I think that the track is more emotionally powerful for it.

Lowlight

Hurt You- To me, Hurt You is held back by the pop and non-pop influences on this album not quite matching up. The bassline on this album could have been lifted straight out of Starboy– it’s prominent, driving, and up tempo. In contrast, Abel performs much of this song in falsetto, and the refrain of “I don’t wanna hurt you” doesn’t seem to match the club vibe that the beat has created. The end result is a song that is pulled in two different directions, and consequently, doesn’t really feel like anything.

Conclusion

My Dear Melancholy, is not a bad album. It might actually even be a good album. But one thing is sure, and that is that it is not Trilogy. It seems to me like Abel really was making an effort to hearken back to an early stage in his career, one in which the same mysterious, hazy quality seemed to shroud both his music and identity. But he can’t be that person. Artists can’t erase years of musical influence and life experience, for better or for worse. And so, My Dear Melancholy, feels like an attempt to return to the past, but it’s unmistakably anchored in the present. A noble attempt, but one that ultimately cannot be successful.

Score: 5/10