Hints and tips:
...The cover shows Tesfaye, 31, as a much older man with a shell-shocked expression....
...But “Die For You” uses an attractive R&B groove to tease out deeper emotions. “I just can’t say I don’t love you,” Tesfaye croons, a master of ambivalence....
...The solitude made sense from the point of view of his songs, which are animated by his beguilingly sweet high tenor, the spark of life in his R&B nocturnes....
...Elsewhere, Tesfaye’s ascension to the top of R&B is cemented by guest turns from Ed Sheeran, on the bluesy torch song “Dark Times”, and Lana del Rey, a suitably world-weary foil on “Prisoner”....
...As The Weeknd, Abel Tesfaye has created the compelling persona of a jaded libertine haunting R&B’s party tunes. “I’m addicted,” he sang in his first song at the Roundhouse, “to a life that’s so empty.”...
...Toronto singer Abel Tesfaye’s debut album as The Weeknd is actually a compilation, featuring remastered tracks from the three mixtapes that he released last year....
International Edition