Starboy (album)

Untitled

Starboy is the third studio album by Canadian singer and songwriter The Weeknd. It was released on November 25, 2016, by XO and Republic Records. The album features guest contributions from Daft Punk, Lana Del Rey, Future, and Kendrick Lamar. The lead single is the title track, which was released on September 22, 2016.

Background

After the commercial success of his album Beauty Behind the Madness in 2015, The Weeknd hinted at the release of his third studio album on March 12, 2016, with his Instagram calling it the next "chapter" to his music. On August 24, 2016, The Weeknd was confirmed by the Republic Records executive vice president Wendy Goldstein to be collaborating with the French electronic dance duo Daft Punk, during an interview with Billboard. On September 7, 2016, the album was confirmed to be in production from an interview with VMAN, with influence taken from Prince, The Smiths, Talking Heads and Bad Brains. On September 21, 2016, the album overall and its title was officially announced, with its release slated for November 25, 2016.

Promotion

See also: Starboy: Legend of the Fall Tour

Singles

On September 22, 2016, the album's first single of the same name was released digitally on music stores and streaming services. The song features guest appearances from French electronic duo Daft Punk. The music video for the track premiered on September 28.

"False Alarm" was released as the first promotional single from Starboy on September 29, 2016. On November 17, 2016, The Weeknd released another two promotional singles, "Party Monster" and "I Feel It Coming", the latter featuring Daft Punk. "I Feel It Coming" will be released to rhythmic contemporary radio stations on December 6, 2016, as the album's second single.

Performances

The Weeknd was a musical guest on the season 42 season premiere of Saturday Night Live. He promoted the album by performing both "Starboy" and "False Alarm" and starred in a brief cameo on the "Weeknd Update" sketch, where he acknowledged his new haircut.

On November 20, 2016, The Weeknd sang "Starboy" at the American Music Awards of 2016.

On November 24, 2016, The Weeknd appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to perform both "I Feel It Coming" and "Starboy".

On November 25, 2016, all of the album's tracks played throughout The Weeknd's interview with Zane Lowe for Beats1.

Short film

On November 23, 2016, The Weeknd released a 12 minute-long short film in promotion of the album, directed by Grant Singer, who also directed the "Starboy" music video. Named Mania (stylized as M A N I A), it features the songs such as "All I Know" featuring Future, "Sidewalks" featuring Kendrick Lamar, "Secrets", "Die for You", "Party Monster" (with background vocals from Lana Del Rey) and "I Feel It Coming" featuring Daft Punk.

Artwork

The album's sleeve is photographed and designed by Nabil Elderkin. It features The Weeknd with shorter hair in a crouched pose with a cross necklace and is highlighted by streaks of blue neon across a neon red background. The top of the picture says the album's name in yellow lettering and the edges of the packaging are grained by the blue neon.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	70/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
The A.V. Club	B
The Daily Telegraph
Entertainment Weekly	B
The Guardian
Rolling Stone
Slant Magazine

Starboy received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 70, based on 14 reviews. Annie Zaleski of The A.V. Club said, "The record is a few songs too long, and it loses steam as it progresses. But such imperfections are par for the course: He'd rather express everything he's feeling than put forth an airbrushed or idealized version of himself. In that sense, Starboy is one of the most confident releases of the year, one bold enough to reveal the cracks in The Weeknd's façade for the sake of resonant art." Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph said, "What is surprising is how seamless and integrated the sound is--a really luxurious, supple groove of sparkling electronica and sinuous, melodic vocals." Nolan Feeney of Entertainment Weekly said, "While musicians writing about coping with newfound celebrity is one of pop's oldest tropes, the Weeknd avoids the usual clichés with observations and anecdotes that feel specific and genuine."

Alexis Petridis of The Guardian said, "There are things worth hearing on Starboy. It seems to capture an artist in a slightly awkward state of flux, unsure whether to cravenly embrace the kind of pop stardom that gets you on the shortlist for the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice awards or throw caution to the wind and do something more interesting artistically. Starboy hedges its bets and tries to do both. You can see why, but it makes for a curiously uneven album." Mosi Reeves of Rolling Stone said, "Despite an overlong hour-plus runtime and surplus of filler, Starboy does have highlights. ... But for longtime fans that believe the Weeknd is one of the major R&B artists of the decade, Starboy will ultimately seem like a disappointment." Jesse Cataldo of Slant Magazine said, "He remains an exceptionally talented vocalist, yet none of the many studio wizards represented in the album's by-committee structure is capable of wrenching him out of his usual morose rhythms. To be fair, none of them really try, playing to his basic talents while also coddling his laziest inclinations, swaddling songs in scintillating soundscapes that coat these sour centers in layers of sweetness."

Track listing

Credits adapted from The Weeknd's official website, and album liner notes.

Starboy — Standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producers	Length
1.	"Starboy" (featuring Daft Punk)	Abél Makonnen Tesfaye Thomas Bangalter Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo Martin McKinney Henry Russell Walter Jason Quenneville	Daft Punk Doc McKinney[a] Cirkut[a] The Weeknd[a]	3:50
2.	"Party Monster"	Tesfaye Benjamin Diehl McKinney Ahmad Balshe Lana Del Rey	Ben Billions McKinney The Weeknd	4:09
3.	"False Alarm"	Tesfaye McKinney Balshe Diehl Walter Emmanuel Nickerson	McKinney The Weeknd Cirkut[a] Mano[a]	3:40
4.	"Reminder"	Tesfaye Nickerson McKinney Dylan Wiggins Walter Quenneville	Mano McKinney Cirkut Sir Dylan[b]	3:38
5.	"Rockin'"	Tesfaye Max Martin Peter Svensson Savan Kotecha Ali Payami Balshe	Martin Payami The Weeknd[a]	3:52
6.	"Secrets"	Tesfaye McKinney Walter Wiggins Roland Orzabal Coz Canler Jimmy Marinos Wally Palamarchuk Mike Skill Peter Solley	McKinney Cirkut The Weeknd[a] Sir Dylan[b]	4:25
7.	"True Colors"	Tesfaye William Thomas Walsh Magnus August Høiberg Benjamin Levin Brittany Talia Hazzard Samuel Wishkoski Jacob Dutton	Cashmere Cat Benny Blanco Jake One Swish The Weeknd	3:26
8.	"Stargirl Interlude" (featuring Lana Del Rey)	Grant Tesfaye McKinney Timothy Lee McKenzie	McKinney Labrinth	1:51
9.	"Sidewalks" (featuring Kendrick Lamar)	Tesfaye McKinney Daniel Wilson Robert John Richardson Kendrick Lamar Duckworth Ali Shaheed Jones-Muhammad	McKinney Bobby Raps Muhammad Wilson[b]	3:51
10.	"Six Feet Under"	Tesfaye Nayvadius DeMun Wilburn McKinney Diehl Leland Tyler Wayne Walter Balshe Quenneville	Metro Boomin Ben Billions Cirkut McKinney The Weeknd DaHeala[b]	3:57
11.	"Love to Lay"	Tesfaye Martin Svensson Kotecha Payami Balshe	Martin Payami The Weeknd	3:43
12.	"A Lonely Night"	Tesfaye Martin Svensson Kotecha Payami Balshe Quenneville	Martin Payami	3:40
13.	"Attention"	Tesfaye Walsh Levin Høiberg Adam King Feeney Mustafa Ahmed	Benny Blanco Cashmere Cat Frank Dukes The Weeknd	3:17
14.	"Ordinary Life"	Tesfaye Martin Svensson Kotecha Payami Balshe McKinney Walter	Martin Payami McKinney Cirkut	3:41
15.	"Nothing Without You"	Tesfaye Quenneville Diehl Thomas Wesley Pentz Balshe Walter	Diplo Ben Billions The Weeknd Cirkut Boaz van de Beatz[a] King Henry[b] Jr. Blender[b]	3:18
16.	"All I Know" (featuring Future)	Tesfaye Diehl Høiberg Wilburn Balshe	Cashmere Cat Ben Billions The Weeknd	5:21
17.	"Die for You"	Tesfaye McKinney Prince 85 Wiggins Høiberg Walsh	McKinney Cirkut The Weeknd Cashmere Cat[a] Prince 85[a] Sir Dylan[b]	4:20
18.	"I Feel It Coming" (featuring Daft Punk)	Tesfaye Bangalter de Homem-Christo McKinney Walter Eric Chedeville	Daft Punk McKinney[a] Cirkut[a] The Weeknd[a]	4:29
Total length:				68:40

Target bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producers	Length
19.	"Starboy" (featuring Daft Punk) (Kygo Remix)	Tesfaye Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll Bangalter De Homem-Christo McKinney Walter	Daft Punk McKinney Cirkut Kygo[c]	4:04
Total length:				72:44

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer
• ^{^[c]} signifies a remix producer

• "Party Monster" features background vocals by Lana Del Rey.
• "Rockin'" features additional vocals by Kazue Lika Tatsushima.
• "Sidewalks" features additional vocals by Daniel Wilson.
• "Six Feet Under" features vocals by Future.
• "Attention" features additional vocals by Mustafa the Poet and Cashmere Cat.

Sample credits

• "Secrets" contains pieces from "Pale Shelter", performed by Tears for Fears (1983), as well as "Talking in Your Sleep" (1984) performed by the The Romantics.
• "Sidewalks" contains elements from "You Don't Know My Name" (2003), performed by Alicia Keys.
• "Six Feet Under" contains interpolations from "Low Life" (2016), performed by Future featuring The Weeknd.

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label	Ref.
Various	November 25, 2016	Digital download	XO Republic
	November 28, 2016	CD