This critique represents the personal views of blogger Adeline Lennon. Lennon’s views do not necessarily reflect those of The Royal Page staff as a whole.

The Weeknd just debuted his first number one album on the Billboard 200. Beauty Behind the Madness is only his second studio album but sold over 400,000 copies during its first week of release.

The success of the album seems to come as no surprise to The Weeknd, as he knows he’s worked hard to get where he is. On the album’s second track “Losers,” he writes, “And now that we’ve gone this far, who do we owe it all to? We did it all alone, now we’re coming for the throne.”

The most recent single off Beauty Behind the Madness, “Can’t Feel My Face,” certainly widened The Weeknd’s audience. Its funky, buoyant beat completely contradicts the typical slow-jam sounds found on The Weeknd’s previous releases, and has even led to comparisons between The Weeknd and the king of pop himself, Michael Jackson.

Writer and producer Max Martin seems to have contributed to this more upbeat sound, as he worked with The Weeknd on both “Can’t Feel My Face” and “In The Night,” which also boasts a pop-driven beat. Both of these tracks help with the flow of the otherwise stagnant background noise of the album.

Though the album’s instrumentals vary, The Weeknd’s impressive vocal ability remains a constant. Songs like “Acquainted” and “Angel” both leave his vocal range front-and-center for listeners.

The themes intertwined throughout Beauty Behind the Madness are really rather simple, heavily revolving around loneliness, success, love, and independence. However, when set against the dark and mysterious persona that the Weeknd has created for himself, these themes appear to be more poetically impressive than they may be at times.

Overall, Beauty Behind the Madness is good medicine for a broken heart when Taylor Swift just isn’t doing it, but it isn’t anything groundbreaking or complex. The closing track “Angel” resolves the conflicting emotions throughout the album with its simple hook: “I hope you find somebody.”