I mean, honestly: does The Weeknd (aka Abel Tesfaye) do anything except take drugs, travel, chase women... and then make great songs about taking drugs whilst traveling and chasing women?
"Kiss Land", the title track of Tesfaye's hotly anticipated new record is a seedy and sexual burner to be sure, but as is often the case in The Weeknd's songs, the lyrics are not that of your run of the mill slow jam. The sex in Tesfaye's songs is never about making love, the drugs are never about having a good time and the person you love is never the one you're with. All that heaviness would bog down the music in the hands of a lesser talent, but the Toronto-based Tesfaye's gorgeous vocal work and absolutely top notch production elevate the songs to an intriguingly complex level that few others of his ilk can reach.
The video matches the dark debauchery at the song's center, with a seemingly frazzled (see: the aforementioned travel and drug use) Tesfaye sitting on a bed singing while a trio of mostly naked ladies writhe on each other behind him. The song paints a bleak picture lyrically repeating, "This ain't nothin to relate to / But you try and try" over and over while flashes of neon Japanese letters and cartoonish imagery appear on the screen as the video and the song become more and more disorienting.
The Weeknd has yet to announce when Kiss Land is going to drop, but I'm going to go out on a big limb here and say it's going to be dark and sultry... a bold prediction, I know.
