Abel Tesfaye otherwise known as “The Weeknd” drops the curtain on the long-awaited cinematic final chapter, “Hurry Up Tomorrow” of the Trilogy including “After Hours” and “Dawn FM,” which serves as a goodbye to his alter-ego after announcing his plan to “Kill The Weeknd.”
Released Jan 3, the 22-track record which might seem overindulgent for some, is a seamless listen throughout that is impressively effective.
A concept album, Hurry Up Tomorrow is the final conclusion to The Weeknd following his last two concept projects. The most recent is Dawn FM, a concept that saw the artist in purgatory, a space between life and death, after vowing to “kill” The Weeknd.
In a May interview with W Magazine, The Weeknd spoke about the struggle of duality between his television role on the HBO series, “The Idol” as Tedros and as the sinned pop star, The Weeknd.
“But I still want to kill The Weeknd. And I will,” Tesfaye said. “I’m definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn.”
The Weeknd did just that on this record as he takes listeners on a journey as the persona one last time.
It keeps its gravitation with audiences by telling a vivid and focused cohesive story inspired by his alter-ego’s hardships with fame, rebirth and reintroduces himself to the world as Abel Tesfaye. The Weeknd’s track “Without a Warning,” is largely influenced by Tesfaye’s experience of losing his voice during his “After Hours Til Dawn Tour” at Sofi Stadium, on Sept. 3, 2022, which deeply affected his state of mind—much of the experience inspiring “Hurry Up Tomorrow.”
Further, The Weeknd frequently reoccurrences his night at Sofi Stadium in several tracks. The experience was incredibly daunting, enough to compel him to draw the conclusion on his pop-star alter ego, feeling burdened with guilt and pain, having to face his insecurities head-on.
The Weeknd opens the record with a haunting synth-funk track, ‘Wake Me Up’ featuring the French electronic duo, Justice, that recalls the sounds of “Thriller” by Michael Jackson. The track’s opening line “All I have is my legacy” sets the tone for the entirety of the record.
Despite its complexity, the record alone is vastly open which allows for tracks to shine on their own.
It’s worth noting the amount of highlights this record contains and its high replay value that’ll keep fans and especially casual listeners coming back. While the record feels familiar, it also feels brand new and unlike anything The Weeknd has done before.
Every track serves as a different facet of Tesfaye’s life in sound—taking each of his bodies of work into one full project from his harrowing moody alternative-R&B mixtape era, the cinematic piece that is “Kiss Land,” the mainstream sounds of “Starboy,” and the 80’s high adrenaline synths of ‘After Hours’ and ‘Dawn FM.’ Each track has something to offer, as Tesfaye hops on genres that audiences would’ve never thought he would sing within.
The two most blatant examples of this are ‘Cry For Me,’ a trap/Brazilian funk-inspired track, produced by world-renowned hip-hop producer, Metro Boomin, and ‘Sao Paulo,’ featuring Brazilian funk artist, Anitta.
It showcases The Weeknd’s sheer versatility and ear for clean production. Not only that, the transitions after and between almost every track are stellar which allows for a structurally complex yet cohesive listen.
Tracks like ‘Open Hearts,’ an ethereal synth-pop masterpiece produced by pop-god, Max Martin display his ability to continue to create outstanding pop tracks and The Weeknd sits right at home as his voice transcends to vast heights on this track.
The record ends with a symbolic ending to The Weeknd on the title track as the last 9 seconds interpolate ‘High For This,’ the opening track to his 2011’ mixtape, ‘House of Balloons.’ This very mixtape introduced The Weeknd to extensive audiences when he was just a voice hidden behind balloons posting cryptic YouTube audios with melancholic images and what many thought to be a band. It’s symbolic of ‘infinite’ or in other words the ‘Timeless’ legacy The Weeknd has had up until this point.
A true defining moment in mainstream music.
