The Weeknd & Beach House

I remember hearing House of Balloons a good ten times and realizing that The Weeknd had major potential. I remember reading about his other mixtape and how he was to put out another mixtape in December. I liked it quite a bit, it was a sweet sound. And then I remember meeting with a friend and how he commented “eh it’s good, the best stuff on it is some Beach House samples.” Then I started to see more and more love for The Weeknd and more and more attention made me check out his other two albums (deservedly) and now am definitely feeling a lot of love for The Weeknd. It’s definitely not what my friend described (he wont be too upset for the choice words quoted here ha) and very much deserving of a ton of praise.

All three of his individual albums kill it. This is just a small mention of tiny, insignificant relevancy haha.

On House of Balloons, The Weeknd mixes smooth beats with an R&B/dubstep/electronic/hip-hop blend of utter bliss. The mix of sounds makes for songs that both reach atmospheric highs both in terms of scope and sound. He sings about how women are the most beautiful and horrible things in life and how the rise has slowly just begun. There is a part where the album gets to “The Party & the After Party” and the Beach House lull begins. I remember getting lost in the sounds amassed here – there is a rich texture all throughout – all of his music really should get more and more talk as time passes. Heck, especially if he continues to make 3 amazing albums a year.

Here’s the song that he samples, “Master of None” by Beach House. It sounds a lot like the early progressions where the chops and movements were developed and later explored in full depth on future classics. It has this heavily drifting feel and the way she sings is so mesmerizing; the sheer bliss of the sounds and how everything melts around each other are sweet. I gotta get this whole album now. I might need to reconsider their first two albums some more ha.


Here there is a focus on the use of the sample at the beginning but other than that, the song swirls into a mashing of sounds that emphasize heavy bass, the stuttering guitar and The Weeknd’s twisted lyrics. There’s many theories to the lyrics on House of Balloons but whatever your take is, there is never no need to be so serious about it all. If anything, he’s talking about a girl he’s trying to get with and how she might overdose when it is all said and done. It’s pretty morbid sure and there is plenty of drama but it all sounds so lush and enveloping that it all seems to feel just fine. The song that follows is ridiculously perfect for the aftermath, maybe I can write about it soon. – Bryan