The Weeknd - High For This

Extraordinary opening track from much talked about mixtape

McLovin

I'm all in favour of artists releasing online mixtapes. For one, it has changed the relationship between music as a commodity and as a free expression. Utilising the accessibility downloading has allowed, up and coming musicians can cut out the middle man, self promoting their own material and creating an audience without worrying about initial sales. At the same extent, established acts can experiment with their sound and style before releasing physical albums. Lil Wayne released dozens of mixtapes before the release of Tha Carter III in 2008 - the opening week sales of over 1 million in the US confirming that his enormous amount of free output, rather than being taken for granted, had resulted in a massive fan loyalty.

My own personal problem with mixtapes is that nagging sense that I'm always missing the boat. I loved Tha Carter III when I bought it (and still do!) but after reading lots of reviews, felt my experience was somehow lacking; critics saying it wasn't as good as this mixtape or should have included that song. In my opinion, the underground aspect of mixtapes can promote quite a bit of snobbery ('What? you haven't heard it yet?!?'). This is probably to do with my own insecurities with how slow my music consumption is. I can get obsessed with a song and it can be the only thing I listen to for a week. By the time I've sated my appetite (or, more likely, overkilled the song), hundreds of mixtapes have been and gone: The never-ending search for The New is pretty unrelenting.

So we come to The Weeknd. Just over two weeks ago, through strong publicity from Drake and a massive amount of music columns and blogs, an unknown artist suddenly became the hot topic of the moment with his free mixtape, House of Balloons. I approached it with some trepidation, but reading that it had a strong emo-rnb vibe, took the plunge. Unfortunately for The Weeknd, I can't really offer a formed opinion of the entire album, as I just can't stop listening to the first track High For This (I had the same problem with Plan B's last album - obsessing over opener Love Goes Down - who knows what the rest of his album sounds like!).

Beginning with high, whirling electronic strains for twenty-five seconds, the beat kicks in just before he begins to sing. Sounding somewhere between Trey Songz and Chris Brown, his echo-laden vocals along with the ominous beat create the sense of enormous space and emptiness. This sparseness emphasises his seemingly banal lyrics. Written down, they could look like simple come-on lines: 'Hold tight for this ride, we don't need no protection, come along, we don't need attention'. But in the context of the song, his words sound desperate and pleading. By the time he sings 'I'm right here' in the chorus, it's as though he's trying to convince himself as much as the girl he's wooing that he is in fact there.

High For This is an astonishing snapshot of alienation and loneliness. Listening with the lights off late at night, the run up to the chorus at 2.30 (layered with a second drumbeat) can be both overwhelming and somehow comforting. The harsh, brutal beats in contrast to his sweet vocals works wonderfully. It reminds me tonally of Drake's Karaoke, one of the standouts from his debut album Thank Me Later.

The hype and coverage of The Weeknd's mixtape has calmed down and the dust appears to have settled. In many ways, this post has come two weeks too late. But I think it's important to sometimes live with songs a little longer, let them play in your head and colour a period of time. If it results in missing out on the very very latest, it might be a price worth paying.