The Weeknd is poised to have one of the biggest pop record releases of 2015, with five singles already reaching the Billboard Hot 100, including the No. 1 hit "Can't Feel My Face." Now you can listen to an 18-minute mash-up, titled "The Leak," of the neo-R&B singer's album Beauty Behind The Madness on Soundcloud.
This is a new strategy to promote albums than we've seen in the past. Typically, artists will provide the album for a limited window of streaming to a media organization that gets it out to the public ahead of the official release.
Now, The Weeknd (aka Abel Tesfaye) is trying a new method of early promotion releasing a remix of short snippets from each song on the album, which drops August 28.
Brit-rock band Foals implemented a similar strategy earlier this week. Is this the sign of a new trend?
Based on this preview there's a lot to look forward to on Beauty Behind The Madness; from anthemic pop tunes to grinding modern blues tunes.
At 8:15 into the remix fans are treated to a soft acoustic song before the bass kicks in for the almost cliché Weeknd love refrain - "I'll always be there for you."
The Weeknd, as the main attraction on the Fifty Shades of Grey Official Motion Picture Soundtrack, has made his career on sexy R&B, bass-heavy hooks. This album doesn't break that trend. Dial into the 13:50 mark for a bluesy slow jam that opens with the dark lines "Light one up/ let me bum a smoke ... I got another man's blood on my clothes."
There are a couple songs on here that might miss their mark, but in an album that already has five charting singles, adding two or three more songs could certainly push this album to the top of the pop charts.
The album comes out August 28 and you can also catch The Weekend on tour.
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