Art that speaks to the state of our COVID world can succeed or fail, or appeal to our isolation in a way that is empathetic and comforting or makes our current nightmare come true. endless. In his newly released album Dawn FMThe Weeknd, aka Abel Tesfaye, along with new BFF Jim Carrey, lets listeners imagine another stage after the dark, providing dance-ready tunes to hypnotize us in the meantime .
Explain the radio structured concept of recent albums Billboards interview, Tesfaye imagines listeners “in traffic jams waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel” with “radio hosts instructing [them] out into the light and help them transition to the other side. Carrey is our quaint, quasi-spiritual escort on this journey, in a guest appearance that recalls Robyn’s surprise appearance in “Secrets from a Girl (Who’s Seen’) It All)” by Lorde last year Solar. However, these ideas of transition, purgatory, purification and darkness into light still represent our currently stalled moment, whether you are looking for something temporary. ease or seek a more lasting sense of hope. More than anything, these creative uses of themes reveal The Weeknd’s quest to grow and transform as an artist – and possibly even a person – in his most magical project yet. it until now.
After he dominated the charts and was critically acclaimed After many hours times, there doesn’t seem to be any other place for The Weeknd to go; At least, for the crazy, red-matched version of himself that we’ve watched run crazily through Las Vegas, beaten up, commit murder, and undergo plastic surgery. Now, put on old age prostheses Dawn FM album cover, he presents the aftermath of a rushed life in a way that feels regretful and melancholy, but also manifests a new level of consciousness.
2020 saw the Toronto singer callously brag about being “Heartless” and nonchalantly refer to himself as “Hardest To Love,” but Dawn FM illustrates the extent of his own work and his acknowledgment of the pain it causes that is unprecedented in his idealist self. Tesfaye is not a fully recovered man – nor might his fans want him to be – but his tone on this album is considerably less self-deprecating.
Specifically, the album’s seventh track, “Out of Time”, borrows “Midnight Pretenders” by Tomoko Aran, as an edit of The Weeknd’s final No.1 hit. After many hours, “Save Your Tears,” in which he arrogantly asks for the love of a woman he knows he will hurt again. On the hit track “Sacrifice”, the singer laments his fear of losing time and freedom making him unfit for a committed relationship, a stark contrast to the guitar riff on the R&B single “I Want To Thank You” is full of optimism by Alicia Myers. There’s also the wonderful track “Less Than Zero”, the last sung song of the album, audio taken from The Killers’ debut album Impatient. There’s a purifying quality in Tesafye’s resounding, choral vocals as the album ends and after he confesses all his sins. That song, paired with the final track — a soliloquy performed by Carrey called “Jim’s Phantom Regret” — offers an emotional reward.
There’s also a personal Quincy Jones opening sequence, “A Tale By Quincy,” which feels like another shot when it comes to presenting a new kind of hole—though it could be said that it’s being forwarded. by someone other than The Weeknd. The 28-time Grammy winner’s presence feels obvious, considering the comparisons Tesfaye has earned with Jones’ most famous collaborator, Michael Jackson. Besides his fame as a famous musical genius contributing to (and in turn co-signing) your album, 88-year-old Jones has also built a reputation in his career as a player and as a result, reflecting appropriately his upbringing raised issues of closeness and his fatherhood difficulties.
But despite its confessional tone, Dawn FM not self-punishment at all. Tesfaye remains a fun-loving man who enjoys getting caught up in the whirlwind of romantic encounters – mostly sexual – on previous tracks from his albums “Take My Breath” and “Gasoline.” And “Here We Go… Again,” features an unforgettable line from Tyler, the Creator, recounting the thrill of a fateful relationship with a movie star. Whether Tesfaye is using poetic freedom in expressing healthy human desires or still bringing these behaviors to the point of destruction is one of the Dawn FMblurred lines. Overall, the album presents ambiguity and unknown possibilities, particularly regarding what awaits our tortured protagonist in “After Life”, as advertised by Carrey at the end of “Every Angel is Terrifying.”
Both narratively and emotionally, Dawn FM feels like the most relatable piece of work Tesfaye has created after running the famous caxtape that put him on the map. 80s synth-pop ambitions and new wave of Daft Punk produced by Daft Starboy and parts of After many hours was made fully and remarkably less difficult with the help of former collaborators Max Martin and Daniel Lopatin, aka Oneohtrix Point Never. A less-advanced pop star trying to capture this particular period in music, playing around with a British accent and trying to impress David Byrne would often provoke ridicule. But these options are instead economical and sensible.
Given Tesfaye’s passion for cinema — and through visuals of the album’s promotional videos — we can get a better sense of his Rip Van Winkle transformation in the coming weeks, revealing more of what he’s going to do. This hypnotic new journey entails. If social media is any indication so far, The Weeknd is in for another blockbuster era.
