: The first half, "House of Balloons," is famously built around a sample of the 1980 single "Happy House" by the British post-punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees.
: At roughly three and a half minutes, the track drops the Siouxsie sample for a "brute percussion and low-end churn". This transition signifies the move from the "party" to the "aftermath". The Weeknd - House Of Balloons / Glass Table Girls
: In "House of Balloons," Abel unconvincingly sings that "this is a happy house" while encouraging a guest to "open a window" if it hurts to breathe—a nod to the suffocating nature of their drug-heavy lifestyle. : The first half, "House of Balloons," is
Music journalists frequently rank it among his best work for its "finely calibrated" ability to simultaneously turn up a party and make a listener's skin crawl. It was certified by the BPI and has remained a staple of his live sets from early club tours to his recent After Hours til Dawn Tour . : In "House of Balloons," Abel unconvincingly sings
: The title refers to a real house on 65 Spencer Avenue in Toronto where Abel and his friends lived and threw parties. They used balloons to make the "shitty parties" feel more celebratory.
: "Glass Table Girls" shifts to a more aggressive, rapping style. It explicitly details cocaine use (the "707" ammonia cleaner used on glass tables), promiscuity, and the physical toll of addiction, such as "jaw clenching". Critical Legacy
is the centerpiece of The Weeknd's debut mixtape, House of Balloons (2011). This seven-minute epic is a two-part track that transitions from a shimmering, drug-induced euphoria to a dark, aggressive reality. Production & Sampling