In the past, his id-driven pleasure principle prevented Tesfaye from wrestling with how his actions might affect someone other than himself, but here he exhibits some actual self-awareness over the course of the album. It’s not a spoiler to reveal that it doesn’t end well, but the conceit lets him get out of his head for once, a kind of revelation for an artist who’s rarely thought of more than where his next fix was coming from. The new wrinkle this time around? The Weeknd falls in love. Kiss Land was equally as bleak and, in some ways, even more depressing Tesfaye had become a star, but just as lonely as before despite more money and even easier access to his vices. Over the course of his first three mixtapes, Tesfaye’s world became narrower and more insular by its end, the party has cleared out and Tesfaye was left alone with only his self-destructive tendencies to keep him company. Even though “Can’t Feel My Face” is one of the glossiest things Tesfaye’s ever sung over, it feels-just like “Love Me Harder” before it- like it’s been tailored personally to his frame rather than an awkward fit that’s slouchy in the shoulders and too wide in the waist.
Tesfaye had flirted with pop sounds before (see “The Morning” or “Montreal” for examples), but his approach was never this laser-guided. In retrospect, last year’s “Love Me Harder,” Tesfaye’s collaboration with Ariana Grande, feels like a proof of concept for the Weeknd As Pop Star. The extended cocaine metaphor of “Can’t Feel My Face” is also vintage Weeknd subject matter-its Max Martin-helmed production less so. Of these three singles, it’s “The Hills” that most resembles his previous work, both topically and in terms of production (more specifically, his trilogy of mixtapes and not 2013’s disappointing Kiss Land) a woman’s blood-curdling scream signals the arrival of the track’s hook, on which Tesfaye purports that the only time he’s himself is when he’s out of his mind on illicit substances.
The success of its singles has reflected this: the 50 Shades of Grey soundtrack song “Earned It” went all the way to #3, the "Thriller"-meets- Blade Runner disco sleaze of “Can’t Feel My Face” currently sits at #2 after hitting the top spot two weeks before, and “The Hills” peaked at #5 on the Top 100 chart. Make no mistake, the album absolutely goes for the radio jugular.
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