beauty behind the madness is smooth, sexual and supple. it's going to get you in the mood for loving and keep you there the entire time. it's very raw and explicit, lyrically wild and instrumentally dark. however this quality can run you pretty raw pretty quickly. there's no safe word like the pause button; if you're not all the way in, you might not enjoy what he's putting on you and that's what turns me off. there's only so much i can take in the way of dismal, drugged out, no strings attached relations with a woman.
the weekend can croon with the best of them and when he wants to sound like the late michael jackson, he sounds like a decent substitute yet twice as melancholy. r&b is rarely as brooding as abel makes it. the guests are also forced to play around in this muck, ed sheeran being the farthest away from this sound but fitting in pretty well. lana del rey sounds the best i've ever heard her, proving that her company and production are what keep her from being great in my eyes.
i will definitely revisit this when the mood is right but i can't guarantee that i can take much of the full ride again. this is not an album that moves and flows across the entirety, but this is an album perfect for a "one night stand."
top 3 + bottom one: can't feel my face, the hills, often, as you are
