The Weeknd is Finally Here!

People, who know me, know that I am a huge Weeknd fan. I have all of his mixtapes, that were on his website available for free download and I attended his concert in Atlanta, which was EXCELLENT! The Canadian singer of Ethiopian descent has recently inked a deal with Universal Republic Records to release a three- disk, 31- tracked album entitled, Trilogy. Trilogy is a re-release of Abel’s three mixtapes, House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence, with three unreleased tracks.

‘Twenty Eight’ is the first unreleased track featured on disc one, which happens to be House of Balloons. This track flows perfectly with the rest of the melancholy and drug-laced tracks of the first mixtape. This track is about a woman The Weeknd found in the club and regretfully invited to his place. He falls for her and he wishes he had left her where he found her because she belongs to someone else. Although there aren’t any vocal surprises on this song, I give this song 4 out of 5 stars.

The second unreleased track, ‘Valerie’, is about the relationship he has with a woman who doesn’t trust him because of his infidelity. Instead of her leaving and being alone, she would rather pretend she trusts him and continue the relationship. Lyrics,

“There comes a time in a man’s life

He must take responsibility

For the choices he has made,
There are certain things that he must do

Things he must say

Like I love you…and nobody is going to know if it’s true,”

alerts the listener that Abel realizes he’s being mature about the situation, but he’s telling the woman he loves her—not something he necessarily means or believes, but something she wants to hear. I really like this song and I give this track 4.5 out of 5 stars.

The last new song on Trilogy, is the track entitled ‘Til Dawn (Here Comes the Sun).’ Unlike the song, ‘Valerie,’ where Abel talks about him cheating, ‘Til Dawn’ recounts moments of The Weeknd being the “other guy” and him being okay with it. This song gets 4.5 stars as well.

Even though I already own the three mixtapes, I had to buy this album because of the three added tracks and because it’s The Weeknd…everyone enjoys a three-disc/day weekend!

The Weeknd’s Trilogy was released on November 13, 2012.