My Dear Melancholy

My Dear Melancholy
EP by The Weeknd
Released March 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
Recorded 2017–2018
Studio
Genre
Length 21:50
Label
Producer
The Weeknd chronology
Starboy
(2016)		 My Dear Melancholy
(2018)
Singles from My Dear Melancholy
  1. "Call Out My Name"
    Released: April 10, 2018[6]

My Dear Melancholy (stylized as My Dear Melancholy,) is the first extended play (EP) by Canadian singer and songwriter The Weeknd.[7][8] It has been referred to alternatively as an album[3][9] and a mini-album,[10][11][4] with the project's liner notes simply describing it as an "official studio recording". It was released on March 30, 2018, by Republic Records and XO.[12][13][14] Primarily produced by Frank Dukes, who serves as an executive producer alongside The Weeknd, it features contributions from Gesaffelstein, as well as Mike Will Made It, DaHeala, Skrillex and Daft Punk's Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, among others.

The project has been described as a return to the darker style of The Weeknd's earlier work, such as Trilogy and Kiss Land[3][4][15] and focuses on the Weeknd's past relationships with model Bella Hadid and singer Selena Gomez.[16][17] The EP was supported by the lead single, "Call Out My Name". My Dear Melancholy received generally positive reviews from critics and debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200.

Background and release

On March 3, 2018, American rapper Travis Scott teased a new album by The Weeknd on Twitter, referring to it as "scary", and comparing it to when he "first heard" his music.[18] Later that month, The Weeknd suggested that he was in the finishing stages of completing a new project, sharing multiple silent videos on Instagram of a recording studio, with the caption "mastering". This followed several months of in-studio pictures shared on the platform.[19][20]

On March 28, The Weeknd teased the release of a new project, posting a screenshot of a text-message conversation between creative director La Mar Taylor and himself, concerning whether or not they should "drop [a new project on] Friday".[21] The next day he announced the project to be released that night, sharing its cover art and title.[22] On February 22, he had previously shared an image of the album's title written on a notepad.[13]

Following the album's release, vertically-orientated music videos for "Call Out My Name" and "Try Me" were released exclusively through Spotify.[23][11]

Music and lyrics

Gesaffelstein (pictured) is the project's only feature, producing the tracks he is featured on.

The project has been described as "darker" than the Weeknd's previous studio releases Beauty Behind the Madness and Starboy, and has been described as a return to his earlier work though with more electronic music based production[3] with Israel Daramola from Spin describing it as him "returning to the darkened drug den sounds of his earlier work".[24] My Dear Melancholy is characterized as an alternative R&B,[1] R&B[3] and electropop[5] project with production credits from Skrillex and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo from Daft Punk.[25] My Dear Melancholy's only feature is techno artist Gesaffelstein who produced the tracks "I Was Never There" and "Hurt You".[26]

Lyrically, My Dear Melancholy focuses on heartbreak and anger related to a breakup.[8][27] The lyrics focus around The Weeknd's past relationships, mainly with model Bella Hadid[28] and singer Selena Gomez, the latter being highly publicized.[29] The theme is a complete change from The Weeknd's past two projects which were pop-based and more mainstream.[30] The Weeknd sings in relation to Gomez' kidney transplant operation and her relationship with Justin Bieber with CNN's Lisa Respers France labeling Gomez as The Weeknd's "muse".[16] The Weeknd uses Gomez' lyrics from the song "Same Old Love" on the song "Wasted Times" in a way that Billboard described "tormenting."[31]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?5.7/10[32]
Metacritic65/100[33]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[34]
The A.V. ClubC[35]
Consequence of SoundC+[27]
Exclaim!8/10[36]
The Guardian[8]
HipHopDX4.0/5[4]
NME[37]
Pitchfork6.5/10[5]
PopMatters5/10[38]
Rolling Stone[39]

My Dear Melancholy received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 65, based on 15 reviews.[33] Alex Petridis of The Guardian stated that My Dear Melancholy "abandons the pick'n'mix and indeed hit-and-miss approach of previous album Starboy in favour of something more cohesive: uniformly downbeat and twilit, it flows really well", however criticized its lyrical content.[8] In a positive review, Ryan B. Patrick of Exclaim! commented that the project serves "as a soft reset of sorts, a musical palette cleanser that takes stock of what the Weeknd has accomplished thus far."[36] For NME, Jordan Bassett called the album "thrilling", praising its tight and concise nature and "notable moments of stylistic brilliance" evident in Gesaffelstein's contributions, however criticizing its lack of character, nothing that The Weeknd's predictability has led to his "impact [becoming] increasingly scattershot".[37] Online publication HipHopDX commented that the EP "doesn't break any new ground, and — as he's done in the past — revisits elements of previous projects. However, without the bloated tracklist of Starboy, and any attempt to please an audience outside of his core, the lack of innovation doesn't seem take away from the concise, focused, conceptual nature of this well-produced R&B gem."[4]

In a mixed review for Pitchfork, Larry Fitzmaurice wrote that the project "finds him in limbo between the bleary-eyed vibe of his early mixtapes and the bulletproof pop stylings of his last two albums", praising the album's production and "Tesfaye's still-sharp ear for cool, contemporary sounds", but criticizing similarities to his earlier work – specifically between "Call Out My Name" and "Earned It", as well as "Hurt You" and "I Feel It Coming" – and concluding that "it's too early in this stage of Tesfaye's career to so obviously attempt to replicate past glories".[5] Israel Daramola of Spin criticized the album's lyrics as "mopey" and "whiny", and its production as "endlessly sludgy and murky", writing that the album "is incredibly self-involved and self-pitying, nothing but surface-level introspection that shows a lot of emotion but none of it in the service of anything but the singer's ego".[24]

Commercial performance

My Dear Melancholy was streamed more than 26 million times on its first day of release on Apple Music,[40] this was double the amount of streams that were obtained on Spotify according to Republic Records,[41] though Spotify claims that My Dear Melancholy was able to rake up 29 million streams in 24 hours.[42] The EP was projected to move between 165,000-180,000 album-equivalent units first week[43] and eventually moved 169,000 album-equivalent units with 68,000 being pure sales, hitting number one on the US Billboard 200. My Dear Melancholy was also the shortest album, by track count, to top the Billboard 200 in eight years, a feat previously done by Glee: The Music, Journey to Regionals.[44] As of July 2018, it has sold 117,000 copies in the US.[45]

Track listing

Credits adapted from Tidal.[46]

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Call Out My Name"
Frank Dukes3:48
2."Try Me"
3:41
3."Wasted Times"
3:40
4."I Was Never There" (featuring Gesaffelstein)
4:01
5."Hurt You" (featuring Gesaffelstein)
3:50
6."Privilege"
  • Tesfaye
  • Quenneville
  • Feeney
  • Frank Dukes
  • DaHeala
2:50
Total length:21:50

Notes

  • ^[a] signifies a co-producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[46]

  • DaHeala – keyboards, programming (tracks 2, 6)
  • Shin Kamiyama – engineering
  • Florian Lagatta – engineering (track 5)
  • Jaycen Joshua – mixing
  • Maddox Chhim – mixing assistance
  • David Nakaj – mixing assistance
  • Chris Athens – mastering

Charts

Chart (2018) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[47] 3
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[48] 8
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[49] 3
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[50] 22
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[51] 1
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[52] 2
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[53] 1
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[54] 3
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[55] 3
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[56] 7
Greek Albums (IFPI)[57] 31
Irish Albums (IRMA)[58] 2
Italian Albums (FIMI)[59] 24
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[60] 2
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[61] 1
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[62] 36
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[63] 16
Scottish Albums (OCC)[64] 8
South Korean Albums (Gaon)[65] 50
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[66] 45
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[67] 1
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[68] 4
UK Albums (OCC)[69] 3
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[70] 1
US Billboard 200[44] 1
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[71] 1

References

  1. 1 2 Aswad, Jem (March 30, 2018). "Music Review: The Weeknd's EP 'My Dear Melancholy,'". Variety. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Is The Weeknd's new EP better than 'Starboy'?". The Tylt. March 30, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Kim, Michelle (March 30, 2018). "5 Takeaways from The Weeknd's New Album, My Dear Melancholy,". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Wallace, Riley (March 30, 2018). "Review: The Weeknd Returns To Shadowy Comfort Zone On Disclosing "My Dear Melancholy"". HipHopDX. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Fitzmaurice, Larry (April 3, 2018). "The Weeknd: My Dear Melancholy, EP". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Top 40 Rhythmic Future Releases". All Access. Archived from the original on April 9, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  7. ↑ Penrose, Nerisha (March 29, 2018). "The Weeknd Drops 'My Dear Melancholy' EP: Stream It Now". Billboard. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Petridis, Alexis (March 30, 2018). "The Weeknd: My Dear Melancholy review – beautiful backings for breakup bawling". The Guardian. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  9. ↑ Britton, Luke Morgan (March 30, 2018). "Listen to The Weeknd's surprise new album 'My Dear Melancholy'". NME. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  10. ↑ Mack, Emmy (March 31, 2018). "The Weeknd Has Surprise-Dropped A Brand New 'Mini-Album'". Music Feeds. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  11. 1 2 Rettig, James (March 30, 2018). "Watch The Weeknd Perform New Songs "Call Out My Name" & "Try Me" For Spotify". Stereogum. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  12. ↑ Penrose, Nerisha (March 29, 2018). "The Weeknd Confirms New Project 'My Dear Melancholy' Will Drop Tonight". Billboard. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  13. 1 2 Strauss, Matthew (March 29, 2018). "The Weeknd Announces New Album My Dear Melancholy Out Tonight". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  14. ↑ McIntyre, Hugh (March 29, 2018). "The Weeknd Is Dropping A New Album Entitled 'My Dear Melancholy' Tonight". Forbes. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Stream The Weeknd's EP 'My Dear Melancholy,'". Rap-Up. March 29, 2018. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  16. 1 2 France, Lisa Respers. "The Weeknd's new album and Selena Gomez are forever connected". CNN. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  17. ↑ Duboff, Josh. "The Weeknd Seemingly References Exes Selena Gomez and Bella Hadid on His New Album". Vanity Fair. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  18. ↑ Espinoza, Hugh (March 3, 2018). "Travis Scott on the Weeknd's Next Album: 'It's Like When I Heard Him for the First Time'". Complex. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  19. ↑ Yoo, Noah (March 23, 2018). "The Weeknd Details Marvel Comic Book, Teases New Album". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  20. ↑ Elder, Sajae (March 24, 2018). "The Weeknd Reveals His Next Album Is Almost Finished". Complex. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  21. ↑ Skelton, Eric (March 28, 2018). "Is the Weeknd Dropping His New Album Friday?". Complex. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  22. ↑ Claymore, Gabriela Tully (March 29, 2018). "The Weeknd's New Album My Dear Melancholy Out Tonight". Stereogum. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  23. ↑ Sodomsky, Sam (March 30, 2018). "The Weeknd Shares 2 New Videos: Watch". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  24. 1 2 Daramola, Israel (April 2, 2018). "The Weeknd's My Dear Melancholy, Is Just the Same Old Blues". Spin. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  25. ↑ Wicks, Amanda; Strauss, Matthew. "The Weeknd Releases New Album My Dear Melancholy,: Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  26. ↑ Meadow, Matthew (March 29, 2018). "BREAKING: The Weeknd Calls On Skrillex, Daft Punk, Gesaffelstein & More For New EP [MUST LISTEN]". Your EDM. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  27. 1 2 Sackllah, David (April 5, 2018). "The Weeknd Can't Recapture His Magical Beginnings on My Dear Melancholy,". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  28. ↑ Perfetti, Marshall (April 5, 2018). "The Weeknd releases surprise EP". The Cavalier Daily. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  29. ↑ "Did The Weeknd Almost Donate One of His Kidneys to Selena Gomez?". Vogue. March 30, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  30. ↑ "The Weeknd Breaks Up With Himself on 'My Dear Melancholy,'". Noisey. April 3, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  31. ↑ Saponara, Michael (March 30, 2018). "Ranking Each Song From The Weeknd's 'My Dear Melancholy' EP: Critic's Pick". Billboard. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  32. ↑ "My Dear Melancholy by The Weeknd reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  33. 1 2 "My Dear Melancholy, [EP] by The Weeknd Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  34. ↑ Kellman, Andy. "My Dear Melancholy, – The Weeknd". AllMusic. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  35. ↑ Ryan, Kyle (April 6, 2018). "The Weeknd, My Dear Melancholy". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  36. 1 2 Patrick, Ryan B. (April 2, 2018). "The Weeknd: My Dear Melancholy,". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  37. 1 2 Bassett, Jordan (April 3, 2018). "The Weeknd – 'My Dear Melancholy,' EP Review". NME. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  38. ↑ Ezell, Brice (April 2, 2018). "'My Dear Melancholy' Exposes Two Problematic Paths for the Weeknd's Music". PopMatters. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  39. ↑ Love, Tirhakah (April 2, 2018). "Review: The Weeknd's 'My Dear Melancholy,' Mixes Deep Gloom and Tough Love". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  40. ↑ India, Lindsey. "The Weeknd's 'My Dear Melancholy' Earns Over 26 Million Streams – XXL". XXL. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  41. ↑ Aaron A. (April 3, 2018). "The Weeknd Nearly Doubles His Spotify Streaming Record On Apple Music". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  42. ↑ Singleton, Micah (April 4, 2018). "Spotify claims it actually had a better Weeknd than Apple Music". The Verge. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  43. ↑ "HITS Daily Double : Rumor Mill – YOUR DEAR TOP 20". Hits Daily Double. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  44. 1 2 Caulfield, Keith (April 8, 2018). "The Weeknd Scores Third Consecutive No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'My Dear Melancholy'". Billboard. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  45. ↑ Caulfield, Keith (July 12, 2018). "Post Malone & Drake Rule Nielsen Music's Mid-Year 2018 R&B/Hip-Hop Charts". Billboard. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  46. 1 2 "My Dear Melancholy, / The Weeknd". Tidal. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  47. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy,". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  48. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy," (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  49. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy," (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  50. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy," (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  51. ↑ "The Weeknd Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  52. ↑ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 201814 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  53. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy,". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  54. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy," (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  55. ↑ "The Weeknd: My Dear Melancholy," (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  56. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy," (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  57. ↑ "Official IFPI Charts – Top-75 Albums Sales Chart (Week: 16/2018)". IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on April 30, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  58. ↑ "Irish-charts.com – Discography The Weeknd". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  59. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy,". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  60. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy,". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  61. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy,". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  62. ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  63. ↑ "Portuguesecharts.com – The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy,". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  64. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  65. ↑ "Gaon Album Chart – Week 16, 2018". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Retrieved April 26, 2018.
  66. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy,". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  67. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy,". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  68. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy,". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  69. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  70. ↑ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  71. ↑ "The Weeknd Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
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