There’s samples of blunts being lit, girls crying and cacophonies of screeching birds. In terms of its aesthetic, Thursday is far more colourful than House of Balloons: the bass drums in ‘Gone’ are overdriven compared to the washed out ones that featured on ‘The Party & The After Party’, and whereas House of Balloons included a lot of melodies that either could feature on, or were sampled from modern indie records (such as Beach House, sampled at least thrice on that mixtape), Thursday goes heavy on the distorted guitar, feedback, tape delay and on two tracks, as surprising as this might sound, haunting ska rhythms. Both mixtapes feature girls and balloons on their front covers, but whereas House’s sleeve is black and white, sexy, and the subject’s face is disguised, Thursday’s is creepy, in full colour, and its subject faces the camera on three different days: on Wednesday she’s apprehensive, on Thursday she looks devilish (not to mention high as a kite), and on Friday she’s crying. The first distinction between the two comes in the cover art.
Topping it was probably always impossible.ĭespite this, Thursday, The Weeknd’s second mixtape and part of a series of three set to conclude late this year, does a remarkable job of expanding on House of Balloons while staying significantly distinct from it. There’s been plenty of debate since as to whether The Weeknd is a genuine independent success story or the result of careful work by a major label (the slew of suspiciously high-budget “unofficial” videos, as well as the swift Drake backing and the slightly-too-perfect pictures that have emerged of him seem to suggest the latter), but the one thing that remains in all this is that House of Balloons was never going to be easy.
Released early this year with minimal information (as most will know, pictures and the real name of The Weeknd have since emerged, as have the identity of the producers behind his distinctive sound), it took the black and white, morning after aesthetic of Drake’s Thank Me Later, and upped the sociopathic tendencies, the malevolence, the sadness and the songwriting values. A lot of people will tell you that House of Balloons, the first mixtape by The Weeknd is already a classic.
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