Early Thursday afternoon, The Weeknd posted a cryptic message to Instagram that read, “Tonight.” Last night, the world learned that message was the official announcement of his newest project, My Dear Melancholy. The six-track project has no guest appearances, but includes an all-star team of producers that includes Mike WiLL Made-It, Frank Dukes, Daheala, Gesaffelstein, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Skrillex.
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Unlike the more commercially accessible success of his last project, My Dear Melancholy is a darker, more eerie project than his post-debut album work. Much of the EP focuses on mourning a heartbreak, which makes sense following his split from model, Bella Hadid. On the EP’s opening track, “Call Out My Name“, he seemingly makes reference to Hadid by singing, “I said I didn’t feel nothing, baby, but I lied. I almost cut a piece of myself for your life. Guess I was just another pit stop. Til you made up your mind. You just wasted my time. You’re on top.” Abel then finishes off his project in heartbreak by singing, “And I’ma fuck the pain away, and I know I’ll be okay
They said our love is just a game, I don’t care what they say/But I’ma drink the pain away, I’ll be back to my old ways/And I got two red pills to take the blues away.”
The Canadian singer-songwriter’s newest effort comes just a year after releasing his latest Grammy-winning project, Starboy. The XO President was also recently featured on the soundtrack to the biggest film of 2018, Black Panther. Next month, he’ll be headlining at Coachella. Who knows what’s next for the Pop and R&B superstar? For now, you can stream his newest effort, My Dear Melancholy.