The Weeknd: Kiss Land – review

Part of the thrill of first hearing Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye lay in his departure from R&B orthodoxy; sex and drugs feature in abundance on his early mixtapes, but largely to numb the loneliness of the songs' pitiable/ predatory narrator. The effect feels less subversive now but also distracts you less from the expansiveness and icy opulence of his music. Alongside more conventional R&B touchstones, Stevie Nicks and Portishead – from whom Belong to the World takes its beats – are acknowledged influences. The result is a seductive layering of glittering, MOR surfaces, ambient textures and a deep, aching undertow.