qThursday, by the popular Canadian artist The Weeknd, is an R&B album with a dark and haunting twist. This album is a bit older, being released in 2012, but still showcases the Weeknd’s signature sound. In addition to this EP, there are two other parts that fully make up a larger remastered album called Trilogy. The album opens with a track titled “Lonely Star,” it starts with dark chords played with light distortion and haunting vocals echoing over top. The song itself is describing a girl who keeps pushing away her best friends with her less than satisfactory actions. Then Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (The Weeknd’s real name) sings about trying to get the girl to start a relationship and although the girl is obviously reluctant, she decides to go with him. The second song, “Life of the Party” begins with a distorted guitar line with high vocals on top that transition into a steady drum beat that is really sort of catchy underneath an erie guitar line. This song is a bit more sinister than the last, while the last one deals with separation and depression, “Life of the Party” has to deal with peer pressuring this girl into doing various drugs to loosen her up. This is where the song title comes from because she becomes the “life of the party” after taking these various substances. It represents the transformation from “good girl” to “party girl.” The third song is the album title track, “Thursday.” This song has more chill vibe to it than the previous ones with the beat being slower and relaxed. This song is about how Abel’s emotions for this girl vary depending on the day, the most important one being thursday. She makes the mistake of calling him earlier in the week and he get angry at her because Thursday is their day, no more and no less. The fourth track, “The Zone” is a song of betrayal: he decides to meet up with someone other than his girl. The song explains the dilemma that Abel is facing and his feelings toward the subject.

The second half of the album seems less focused on the girl herself and instead on Abel’s bad habits. The fifth and sixth tracks are named “The Birds Pt. 1” and “The Birds Pt. 2” and tell a story together. Part one is Abel explaining his bad habits to the girl and explaining that she shouldn’t fall for him if she doesn’t want to get hurt. In part two it is obvious that the girl hasn’t listened to his advice and has gotten her heart broken. This song starts with a girl crying and transitions into chilling vocals over a steady beat. In my opinion, this song is one of the more interesting songs on the album because the style has a different feel to it than the rest of the album; it is almost introspective rather than telling a story. The seventh song is titled “Gone” which is a look into how it feels to have power over someone and how a party life can affect a person. This song has one of the most interesting beats on the album in my opinion, which gives a tasteful contrast with the almost simple lyrics. The eighth song is titled “Rolling Stone” and is about how Abel feels like he keeps moving and is being paid attention to but for his music rather than himself. It is obvious from the vocals that he seems sort of unstable and envious of those who have something stable in their life. This song is also really interesting because it is a look into Abel’s mind as an up-and-coming producer and what it is like to have instability in your job. The last song, “Heaven Or Las Vegas,” is one of the least depressing songs on the album but still manages to have a dark sound. This song seems to deal with Abel’s party habits and his relationship with drugs. The guitar line is very catchy in this track, and when mixed with a fun drum beat and distorted vocals, it creates a truly unique song on this album that is memorable not for its subject matter necessarily  but rather its production and beats.

Altogether, Thursday not only showcases The Weeknd’s talent but also acts as an introspective look on what it is like to be a celebrity and have that much power. The mix of complex beats, simple vocals, and catchy guitar lines creates an interesting album from start to finish. If you are already into genres like R&B or Rap or even if you are looking for something new, I would definitely recommend this album, it is fairly accessible but different enough for it to leave a lasting impression unlike anything you may have heard before.