My Dear Melancholy, [EP]
by The Weeknd
  • Record Label: Republic
  • Release Date: Mar 30, 2018
Metascore
63

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
Buy Now
Buy on
  1. Sputnikmusic
    Apr 3, 2018
    60
    Enjoyment for this sort of album can be derived from two factors: being, your toleration for pandering, and your toleration for complainers. Given the circumstances, I’d advise you simply look past either point and enjoy the music superficially, but if you’re finally sick of The Weeknd’s melancholy, now might be the time to look elsewhere.
  2. New Musical Express (NME)
    Apr 3, 2018
    60
    Stylistically, superficially, this forward propulsion sees him loop back to the start with six-track EP My Dear Melancholy,, which appears to sink back into the browbeaten R&B with which he made his Google-friendly name. This works--sporadically.
  3. The Guardian
    Mar 30, 2018
    60
    At six tracks and barely 20 minutes long, it feels like an interstitial release rather than a major statement. ... Still, if you can get around the fact that the lyrics appear to have been written by R&B’s answer to that bloke who said he was going to continuously play piano in Bristol town centre until his girlfriend took him back, there’s a great deal to like about My Dear Melancholy,. It abandons the pick’n’mix and indeed hit-and-miss approach of previous album Starboy in favour of something more cohesive: uniformly downbeat and twilit, it flows really well.
  5. Consequence
    Apr 5, 2018
    58
    My Dear Melancholy, has cohesion, but it’s a listless, murky sound that never unhinges the way you want it to. Had he pushed a little further, it could have made for something more substantial, rather than walking up to the cusp and then backing down.
  6. AllMusic
    Dec 11, 2018
    50
    Apart from the sly and sweet 2-step rhythm on "Wasted Times," the sound of the EP is bleary R&B with beats that drag and lurch, suited for Tesfaye's routine swings between self-pity and sexual vanity, chemically enhanced from one extreme to the other.
  7. The A.V. Club
    Apr 6, 2018
    50
    On Melancholy, the Starboy wallows in heartbreak. It can be a bit tedious, at least until French producer/DJ Gesaffelstein shows up for “Never There” and “Hurt You,” which plays like a two-part song.
  8. Spin
    Apr 2, 2018
    50
    The production retreats into his comfort zone. But it is also really just a breakup album, and a really mopey one at that.
  9. PopMatters
    Apr 2, 2018
    50
    The music does at times reach the heights of Trilogy: the main lick of "Try Me" and the excellent beat on "Hurt You" reveal flickers of creative flame in Tesfaye's songwriting. Yet the primary impression left by My Dear Melancholy is that however visible those flames, their faintness is what sticks in the memory.
  10. NOW Magazine
    Apr 2, 2018
    40
    There’s more softness and vulnerability than one usually associates with the Weeknd, but also his signature numbness. ... Opener Call Out My Name’s title is typical of the EP’s uninteresting lyrical approach, but he sings with a grandness that is further amplified by sturdy production choices: a buzzing bass line and waltzing drum beat that sounds recycled from hit single Earned It.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 310 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 260 out of 310
  2. Mixed: 37 out of 310
  3. Negative: 13 out of 310
  1. lilgnzlo
    Mar 30, 2018
    10
    Very personal EP by The Weeknd.

    I like it,reminds me the sound of Echoes Of Silence but with vibes of Starboy. If you are a fan of The    Very personal EP by The Weeknd.

    I like it,reminds me the sound of Echoes Of Silence but with vibes of Starboy.

    If you are a fan of The Weeknd previous work's you will like this.
    If you are looking for I Feel It Coming or Can't Feel My Face vibes, this is not the right place.    … Full Review »
  2. filipehondrey12
    Mar 31, 2018
    9
    This album is full of sex and slow motion vibes, that makes everyone listen to it feeling high. I really like that!
  3. noahbrackenbury
    Mar 30, 2018
    8
    The Weeknd released a 6-track album My Dear Melancholy, by surprise on Friday, March 30th, after only announcing it during the day onThe Weeknd released a 6-track album My Dear Melancholy, by surprise on Friday, March 30th, after only announcing it during the day on Thursday, and it follows a completely different trajectory than that which the confident, rich pop star The Weeknd has been known for on recent projects. The lyrical content as well as production are surprisingly radio-unfriendly, especially in contrast to his last two Grammy-winning and chart-topping albums, 2016's Starboy and 2015's Beauty Behing the Madness. As much as this album is a romantically dejected yell into the void, it is also noticeably grounded by indirect yet specific references to past lovers whom have recently shared in his spotlight. However, as is Abel Tesfaye's signature philosophy that brought him both cult success and defied pop-culture logic by giving him huge radio success (specifically with the dark and terrifying 2015 single "The Hills"), Abel is destined to use sex and substances as coping mechanisms for his ultimate alienation and inability to love. He is a touchstone for these feelings, utterly synonymous with them in popular culture, and although many believed he had somewhat grown out of this philosophy, he returns to it with fresh eyes and a freshly avant-garde, emotional, and dramatic sound. This album has no features, except credit for French DJ Gesaffelstein's production on tracks 4 and 5, "I Was Never There" and "Hurt You", and satisfies while leaving the listener wondering what's next for The Weeknd.

    Track 1, "Call Out My Name" is a confrontational ballad that sounds a lot like his Fifty Shades of Grey song "Earned It", but turned fifty shades darker (although he wasn't involved in any of the sequels' soundtracks). The production and vocals on this track build up and expertly explode at the beginning of each chorus. "Try Me" has light notes of trap from co-producer Mike WiLL Made-It, and "Wasted Times" features the most irregular beat of the bunch, employing indie-techno syncopation. "I Was Never There" has some of the darkest self-directed lines on this album, and sees a return to the two-part form that defined the title track of his 2013 album Kiss Land. "So I poison myself again and again until I feel nothing/ I'm on the edge of something breaking", Abel dejectedly croons under heavy reverb. An alarm-like high-pitched synth revives the horror-movie vibes invoked by shrill screams on past Abel tracks like "The Hills" and the 2013 track "Kiss Land", again. "Hurt You" feels firmly in the middle of the Venn diagram between the sound of this album and his late 2016 LP Starboy, which sensibly reflects that Guy-Manuel of Daft Punk (who was instrumental in the success of singles off Starboy) contributed to this track, mostly heard on the electro beat. Abel closes with the call "I'll be back to my old ways" on "Privilege", which truly features the strongest callback to his 2011 mixtape Echoes of Silence yet, both lyrically and musically with a slow, dark, and windy crawl to a pointless finish line.

    All of these songs flow well into each other, but on early listens are difficult to distinguish and sound muddy at times. Most of the tracks feature a stripped-down beat with distorted kick-snare-kick-snare and clean hi-hat dispersed throughout, and every track is extremely heavy on the synth bass lines, which complement Abel's falsetto, but the heavy compression on this project can make the consistent bass overwhelming. Lyrically, this album has some thoughtful lines and subtle references to specific past lovers, but is still carried by The Weeknd's signature, lost-sounding but powerful, Ethiopian-influenced, non-lyrical crooning. Overall, this project succeeded in some ways that Starboy didn't: it captured the attention of his oldest fans begging for a darker sound, and while it hits similar notes again and again, the 6-track length makes this project a perfect vignette of melancholy, as opposed to the similarly monotone, packed, and difficult-to-digest 18 tracks of Starboy. This project is absolutely intriguing, features the genuine and raw emotion that its title set out to capture, and its detail and depth grow with each listen, but it is unlikely to get as much radio play as previous hits from now-superstar The Weeknd.    … Full Review »
See all user reviews »