Weeknd – House of Balloons

House of Balloons is the first of three mix tapes that Abel Tesfaye released in 2011 under the name The Weeknd. Despite being released as a free download, it generated a favourable industry buzz, including rave reviews in The Village Voice and The Guardian. The mainstream media press was not quite as universally enthusiastic:

• AllMusic gave it 3.5 stars out of 5
• Robert Christgau gave it a 3 stars
• Pitchfork rated it an 8.5 out of 10
• Rolling Stone gave it 4 stars out of 5

I only recently added this to my personal collection, but am told that its electronic music includes R&B and soul, along with hip hop and indie rock. It samples from diverse artists like Siouxsie and the Banshees (on the title track), the Cocteau Twins and Aaliyah.

House of Balloons placed 87th in CBC Radio's 2013 list of the 100 Greatest Canadian Albums Ever. Trilogy, a 2012 repackaging of House of Balloons with the other two 2011 mixtapes, won the 2013 Juno Award for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year.

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Track Listing

• "High for This" (Abel Tesfaye, Adrien Gough, Henry Walter) – 4:07
• "What You Need" (Abel Tesfaye, Jeremy Rose) – 3:26
• "House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls" (Abel Tesfaye, Martin McKinney, Carlo Montagnese, Siouxsie Sioux, Peter Clarkex, John Martin, Steven Severin) – 6:47
• "The Morning" (Abel Tesfaye, Martin McKinney, Carlo Montagnese) – 5:15
• "Wicked Games" (Abel Tesfaye, Martin McKinney, Carlo Montagnese, Rainer Millar Blancheur) – 5:25
• "The Party & The After Party" (Abel Tesfaye, Jeremy Rose, Rainer Millar Blanchaer, Victoria Legrand, Alex Scally) – 7:39
• "Coming Down" (Abel Tesfaye, Martin McKinney, Carlo Montagnese) – 4:55
• "Loft Music" (Abel Tesfaye, Jeremy Rose, Victoria Legrand, Alex Scally) – 6:04
• "The Knowing" (Abel Tesfaye, Martin McKinney, Carlo Montagnese, Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie, Simon Raymonde) – 5:41