The Weeknd - Echoes of Silence

A couple of days ago, Canadian R&B singer/producer and Drake homie The Weeknd dropped his new mixtape Echoes of Silence. As a follow up to both Thursday and House of Balloons, it measures up to his past projects. The first track "DD" will surprise younger fans because it's a cover of "Dirty Diana" by Michael Jackson. It's an excellent approach to a classic, yet underrated MJ song. The rest of the tracks sound like a slowed down hybrid of Drake and The-Dream. The production value of tracks like "Initiation" which consists of the slowing down and speeding up of his voice, without adjusting the background music, stands out. However, the vocals are coupled perfectly with the beat and underscored bass lines. I really like his use of wailing guitar solos as track intros and overall samples. Maybe it's because he's Canadian, but I've really never heard anything like this before. The lyrics are raunchy and explicit, yet Weeknd's smooth and wide-range vocals make them seem more tame. "Same Old Song" features  Weeknd belting out what seems to be a heartfelt and emotional diss at a girl. "Next" highlights the strength of his voice and showcases his interesting production techniques. I'm pretty sure he produces everything himself, but I could be mistaken. I know he produced some of Take Care. The closing track is a piano-driven bookend to what will surely be a critically acclaimed mixtape. 

Out of all three of his mixtapes, I think this one is the best to date. I wasn't too impressed with Thursday, but I'm a huge fan of House of Balloons so I guess I really like this new one. He's just such a dynamic singer. I definitely think he's going to get huge next year. I think with the help of Drake and the rest of Young Money, this dude is gonna be a superstart. It's impossible that with his talent, he won't get noticed.

As someone who gave The Weeknd half a chance because of certain dumb blogs praising him, I must say I'm really impressed. This is a pretty great early Christmas present. I'm excited to see what 2012 holds for this guy. 

Download for free here.