REC’D MP3s: The Weeknd – House of Balloons Mixtape

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The Weeknd are the hottest new r&b duo currently out there. They can accredit a lot of their buzz to fellow Torontonian Drake, who posted some of their tracks on his OVO blog. Amidst the cloud of hype, the Weeknd remain mysterious and hard to get a hold of, though we’ve discovered the vocals belong to one Abel Tesfaye and it’s been confirmed by Pitchfork that the are indeed a duo. Since listening to the bass friendly “What You Need” and dramatic r&b single, “Wicked Games,” the Weeknd have been heavily on our radar, and out of the blue today they released their debut mixtape, House Of Balloons. It features other tunes that have been floating online including “Loft Music” and “The Morning” and features five new tracks that blend genres like lo-fi, electronic, and r&b into one intoxicatingly original mixtape.

On their twitter they thank the spurge of fans that have been hopping on the bandwagon, and assure us that there’s more to come soon. Let’s hope so.

The Weeknd can craft dreamy r&b that sounds like The-Dream covering jj, and use backdrops that are similar to Hard Mix or Nicolas Jaar. Tesfaye’s voice at times sounds like a mature Chris Brown, but attached to unique, unorthodox instrumentals rather than dainty pop construction. As Tesfaye croons on the opening track, “you want to be high for this.” Download House Of Balloons below, and listen for yourself.

by Daniel Koren on March 21, 2011 ‡ 256 reactions