House of Balloons (a nine-track, R&B-inspired post-club come down) has lasted beyond the hype because it's good. Not quite as left leaning as some R&B newbies are implying (see Bilal, Ryan Leslie and Tiombe Lockhart for evidence), House of Balloons is a sonically calculated step toward fusing the clubs-girls-drink-and-drugs template of R&B with trendy production techniques that evoke the stuttered, whole note progression of James Blake and sepulchral atmosphere of the XX. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the sample choices: there's chopped Aaliyah on the double-time '90s chillout homage "What U Need," Siouxsie & the Banshees' minor tonality on "House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls" and clouded, lo-fi Beach House permeating a couple of places. Though Tesfaye's falsetto, at times, plays a little dead-eyed, House of Balloons is a slow-grower, the kind of mood music you didn't know you needed until it came along.