In March 2011, Abel Makkonen Tesfaye dropped his debut mixtape under his moniker The Weeknd. House of Balloons received widespread acclaim from both music consumers and critics for his dark approach to R&B music. That summer, he went on to drop a second mixtape, Thursday, which was also met with a relatively positive response. Later that year, he released the final portion of this trilogy of mixtapes, Echoes of Silence, which got nearly as much praise as the first. This trilogy told the music world one thing: look out for The Weeknd. He carried his dark R&B approach to his debut LP Kiss Land, but was met with a much more lukewarm reaction for just being kind of messy. Beauty Behind the Madness cleaned up a little, but it didn’t reach the heights of his mixtapes. It took Starboy to turn the tables in terms of style and sound. Sure, you still had your nocturnal moments, like “Party Monster,” but this was a more upbeat LP with less of the asshole-ish persona The Weeknd used on his previous projects, glamorizing his success. It was a hit. Now, over a year later, The Weeknd comes back with brand new EP My Dear Melancholy, which has to be one of the best titles for a project I have seen this year thus far. Having found positives in Beauty Behind the Madness and Kiss Land, I knew I had to jump on board with this project right away.
From the title of this EP, I was expecting a return to form for Abel, and that he very much did. This is probably the most nocturnal The Weeknd has ever sounded on a project. Tracks like “Call Out My Name” and “Privilege” are walls of atmosphere that set the depressing mood in stone.Then there’s the future garage sound of “Wasted Times.” The instrumental on this track could’ve easily shown up on a project by Burial (he production was done by brostep pioneer Skrillex, so this isn’t too much of a stretch). The instrumental on “Hurt You” sort of recalls “I Feeling it Coming” on Starboy, but it’s much darker in tone, showing that those previous feelings are irrelevant. Both “I Was Never There” and “Hurt You” had some help from French techno artist Gesaffelstein, which further connects the two through this choice of production. “Try Me” generally sound like a depressed Starboy leftover.
Lyrically, the EP is about a breakup. Plain and simple. Abel is not even trying to hide that fact. The EP plays out in a chronological order, almost like Abel is going through the stages of grief. In the very first verse of “Call Out My Name,” we see that he is reminiscing over his now lost relationship, singing “We found each other/I helped you out of a broken place/You gave me comfort/But falling for you was my mistake.” This track sees him wishing that his lover would come back to him in some way. He’s in denial. He continues the idea on the next track, “Try Me,” while also trying to convince his partner to leave whoever they’re seeing to come back to him; this is very much brings the scummy, jerkoff Weeknd we saw on the Trilogy mixtapes talking.
He continues this attitude on “Wasted Times,” which shows him bargaining by sleeping with the partner he had before his last one, but realizing it is just not the same. The next two tracks are connected by the theme of depression: “I Was Never There” sees Abel resorting to drugs and alcohol to deal with his issues, whereas “Hurt You” is him telling everyone, particularly his former lover, to stay away from him, because he is in a very toxic place. The EP concludes with “Privilege,” which is acceptance - a very begrudging acceptance. Abel tells his former lover to enjoy their privilege, and that he knows he will get over the situation in due time. He is still hurt, and is constantly using substances to dull the pain, but he knows it’s only going to get better for him in the future. He closes off singing “I don't wanna hear that no more” as he walks away from his partner and her issues, wanting absolutely nothing to do with her.
Structurally, these songs are some of the best The Weeknd has ever crafted. My issue with the EP comes from how much of a one-trick pony it is. Being only six tracks and standing at roughly 21 minutes, there is literally no variety. I remember expecting this to be a full length, but now that it’s out, I’m glad it isn’t, because I think the record’s dark tone it would get stale quickly. It’s hard to listen to in full unless you’re in a certain mood. I think all of these tracks are pretty damn solid, but I’ll only really be returning to the full project every now and then.
That said, when it is THAT certain time and I am feeling THAT certain way, this is definitely going to be my go-to. It’s easily my favorite thing The Weeknd has done thus far. The production is great, and The Weeknd sounds as good as ever. Hopefully, we get a full length later this year too; one that takes this renewed interest in the dark, edgy sound he came up on in more adventurous directions.
VERDICT: What My Dear Melancholy, lacks in ambition it makes up for in incredibly consistent songs. There is no room for fat on this 21-minute EP, a perfect soundtrack for those dark, lonely nights.
- Alex Brown
Archival details
- Original URL
- https://metallifestyle.weebly.com/metal-lifestyle/review-the-weeknd-my-dear-melancholy
- Recovery source
- live-weebly
- Recovery date
- 2026-07-22
- Stewardship polish
- 2026-07-22
- Preservation status
- restored
- Missing assets
- None recorded
Preserved by Bloodsoaked Media · The Archives