There are many acts who probably think they had a busy 2011. Sure, there might have been a new EP or album, a tour and all the palaver that goes with such projects. But there were very few acts who put out three full-length albums in the space of a couple of months, gave them away for free, and watched as their star went supernova.

Abel Tesfaye is The Weeknd, a Canadian who shows there are many ways to skin a cat in the new-school music industry. His trilogy of releases – House of Balloons, Thursdayand Echoes of Silence– may have been tagged mixtapes rather than albums in the accepted sense, but they did more for his profile and status than many more carefully orchestrated campaigns.

Before House of Balloonslanded in March, Tesfaye was little known even in his native Toronto. By year's end, he was producing Drake, remixing Lady Gaga and Florence the Machine, and turning down lucrative offers for shows and releases from all sides.

The reason for so much activity on the business side of the house comes down to Tesfaye's beguiling, adventurous, memorable sounds. Like previous releases, Echoes of Silenceshows how experimenting with the atmospherics and textures of r'n'b can lead to new, exciting and mesmerising shapes and sounds.

That said, though, Tesfaye is still a sucker for r'n'b's traditional tropes. Be it his version of Michael Jackson's Dirty Dianaor the defiant stance taken on the marvellous Same Old Song, The Weeknd knows there are some qualities that are exaggerated enough to begin with.

If you're looking for The Weeknd's X factor, you'll find it in how he and producer Illangelo warp and wobble the sounds around the singer's compelling, majestic falsetto to create stark, trippy, distinctive moments such as XO/The Hostand Initiation.

As calling cards go, this and the rest of Tesfaye’s 2011 trilogy should entice many listeners back for the next chapter. See the-weeknd.com.

Download tracks: Same Old Song, XO/The Host, Initiation