Abel Tesfaye, better known by his stage name The Weeknd, has captivated music fans for a few years now and is back with a new album. “My Dear Melancholy.”

The Weeknd recently surprised everyone with the release of his fourth studio album, “My Dear Melancholy,” in April.

This album was unexpected as the singer just finished his “Legend of the Fall” tour at the end of 2017. His twice Platinum album “Starboy” was released just one year ago, but the singer was not ready for a break. 

“My Dear Melancholy,” is composed of six songs. It comes recently after The Weeknd’s”public breakup with actress and singer Selena Gomez. All six of the songs reflect his feelings toward their relationship and his life after their split.

“Call Out My Name” is the first track and bluntly addresses the breakup. It has become one of the standouts on the album and has consistently remained  at the top of the charts.

The album is dark, just like most of The Weeknd’s work, but this one is slightly different than his previous work. It is a very emotionally driven body of work that is at times very heavy for a listener. I enjoy music that is deep, but for others who only enjoy his more upbeat pop songs, this one may not be for you.

The overall tone of “My Dear Melancholy,” reflects more of the artist’s first album “Kissland.” When “Kissland” was released, The Weeknd was not as well known, but the music was intense. For fans like myself who have been waiting for a more somber album like his first one, this is it.

My personal favorite is the sixth and final track, “Privilege.” In my opinion, this closing track is the most melancholic and suffocating from the album.  The vocals present on the album are beautiful as always.

“Wasted Times” explores a love interest that was short and occurred not long after the breakup with Gomez. In this track, The Weeknd realizes that what he had with Gomez was truly something special that he could not find in someone else for a while.

What came as an unusual surprise to many including myself is that the album was made up of only six songs. The artist’s normal album lengths are usually 10-14 tracks. This has caused a lot speculation that this is not the only project on which the artist has been working on.

Rumors on Instagram have suggested that part two of this album will be coming out very soon. The Weeknd has also updated his biography on Instagram to “we’re alone together.” So it would be fitting that the entire body of work would be titled “My Dear Melancholy, we’re alone together.” While this has not been confirmed, fans will know in the coming weeks.

In my opinion, this album is The Weeknd’s best work to date. It’s slow and moody, but it’s a beautiful piece of work that deserves all the attention it is receiving.  I do hope there is a second installment coming soon, but until then I’ll just have “My Dear Melancholy,” on repeat.