Toronto-based pop singer Abel Tesfaye, primarily known by stage name and shadowy alter-ego The Weeknd, debuted his album “Hurry Up Tomorrow” on Friday.
The project is the last act in a trilogy designed to send off his The Weeknd persona. Even after releasing some of the biggest hits of the 21st century, Tesfaye said that The Weeknd character is just “a headspace I’ve got to get into that I just don’t have any more desire for.”
Clocking in at over 90 minutes with bonus tracks, “Hurry Up Tomorrow” is a fan-servicing epic whose size may alienate a wider audience, despite containing a plethora of hit-worthy songs.
“Hurry Up Tomorrow” is inspired in part by that revelation and in part by an onstage mental breakdown in September 2022 that forced him to reckon with his rockstar tendencies. The perennial hitmaker succumbed to the overwhelming stress of touring mid-performance and lost his voice, the first time he couldn’t meet his fans’ expectations.
“Hurry Up Tomorrow” addresses the subject head-on with its first track, “Wake Me Up,” which explores the isolation of performance. The track starts off with organ-like synths and bassy percussion before transitioning into an anthemic ‘80s instrumental. Lyrically, Tesfaye introduces many of the album’s key themes, like existentialism and the afterlife.
“Cry for Me,” released as a radio single after release, strongly follows up the opener, built upon noisier synths and hip-hop percussion. Its heavy beat harkens back to the catchy tunes that propelled some of his earlier songs, like “The Hills,” into the stratosphere of pop.
Another single off the project, the Brazilian funk song “São Paulo,” was initially met with confusion by audiences due, in part, to its off-putting music video. Despite being in a dramatically different genre, “São Paulo” makes a lot of sense bookended by seamless interludes that reenact Tesfaye’s breakdown. Similarly, most of this album transitions smoothly from track to track, a trend that he began in his 2022 concept album “Dawn FM.”
Outside of expanding on old styles, Tesfaye also hones his art for hit-making in “Open Hearts,” which featured on Jimmy Kimmel Live! as part of an album’s preview. The song has all the makings of a hit, with softer production, catchy lyrics and ‘80s-tinged melodies. Tesfaye’s lyrical skills shine here, too, as he recounts his character’s escape from purgatory.
“Reflections Laughing” sees Tesfaye join forces with longtime collaborators Florence + The Machine and Travis Scott in a multi-part song centered on an eerie phone call. The latter half of the song, performed almost entirely by Scott, serves as somewhat of a segue into a section of the album with a hip-hop flair. Later songs like “Given Up on Me” and “Niagara Falls” use sped-up soul samples in their instrumentals, a common production style in rap popularized by Kanye West.
However, another song featuring a rapper, “Timeless” with Playboi Carti, suffers from issues present in much of this hip-hop section: its lyrics are vapid and occasionally cringeworthy, and its production sounds uncannily clean and empty. Carti’s verse also sounds as if it were passed through an AI filter, adding rough distortions to his performance, even if he does make some impressive leaps of vocal agility.
The songs “Take Me Back to LA” and “Big Sleep” introduce a different section of the album, dedicated to operatically grandiose synth-pop. The latter track has a euphoric beat-switch that quickly engulfs the listener in a huge electronic soundscape. This part of the album evokes the best parts of earlier trilogy projects “After Hours” and “Dawn FM” in their dramatic expansiveness.
It also touts Tesfaye’s most innovative song, “Red Terror,” a horror-tinged synth suite that tells the story of his mother’s flight from dictatorial Ethiopia. These lyrics are his most personal and endearing, accomplishing that feat fittingly by focusing on Tesfaye’s personal experience rather than The Weeknd character.
The album’s closer, “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” is a restrained and mellow finale to The Weeknd, taking the form of a confessional ballad. It’s appropriately conclusive and satisfying, a redemptive ending for his character.
While this album does suffer from its overlong tracklist, the inclusion of so many incredible songs vaults it into the upper echelon of Tesfaye’s catalog. Should this be his last album under The Weeknd moniker, it may go down as among his best, and rightfully so. Its immaculate production and memorable melodies make it an unmissable listen.
