“When today ends, I’ll discover who I am:” the final words in The Weeknd’s Instagram post in which he announced “Hurry Up Tomorrow” as the title of his sixth and final album. The album, released on Jan. 31, serves as the funeral for The Weeknd, as the artist – Abel Tesfaye, recognized that he has said everything he could under the persona he’s embodied since 2011.
Initially, I didn’t believe this would be the end of The Weeknd as we know him — after all, many artists make similar claims only to return with new music later. Then, I thought killing his character was a clear marketing strategy, kind of like Duolingo’s style. However, after listening to the album, much of it made sense.
The Canadian R&B artist is one of the most streamed worldwide, and he’s been accumulating Billboard Hot 100 #1 songs throughout the years, including “The Hills,” “Can’t Feel My Face,” “Save Your Tears” and, the most streamed song in streaming platforms’ history, “Blinding Lights.” After past works focusing on drug glamorization, lack of emotional responsibility and meaningless sex, “Hurry Up Tomorrow” portrays the most vulnerable and intimate version of the artist up to date.
The album’s first single, “Dancing In The Flames,” was released on Sep. 13. Its synth-pop instrumental echoed much of his previous albums’ aesthetic, but it was found with such poor commercial reception that it didn’t make it to the final album cut. Thus, “Timeless” came to save the album. Much of its popularity should be credited to Playboi Carti’s feature, where he raps in two distinct voices for half of the track. The catchy R&B song saw phenomenal sales performance, but the lyrics, like much of his past work, revolve around womanizing and drugs — the exact behaviors The Weeknd regrets on “Hurry Up Tomorrow.”
The following single before the album, “São Paulo,” showcased the artist exploring Brazilian funk with Annita. Although The Weeknd experimenting with a new genre makes the track innovative and compelling, its lyrics focus on his enjoyment of sex, which has nothing to do with “Hurry Up Tomorrow’s” storyline.
In other words, both singles completely misrepresented the album’s depth and fooled us into believing it would offer nothing new. It seems as though they were produced after the album’s completion to boost its popularity, despite feeling entirely out of place.
“After past works focusing on drug glamorization, lack of emotional responsibility and meaningless sex, “Hurry Up Tomorrow” portrays the most vulnerable and intimate version of the artist up to date.“
“Hurry Up Tomorrow” allows Tesfaye to uncomfortably reveal he’s much more than the image built under The Weeknd, and ultimately leads to his alter ego’s suicide. In the track “Given Up On Me,” he confesses, “I’ve been always wasted, it’s too late to save me” and “Why won’t you let me leave? I’ve given up on me.” Similarly, in “Enjoy The Show,” he acknowledges that he could be healthy by stopping drug use if he weren’t hesitant to heal. “Cry For Me,” the third single and arguably the album’s best track, captures his painful regret over a relationship ending. After years of crafting a narrative on him being heartless and unable to sacrifice for love, he finally admits to being a human who feels and suffers.
Production-wise, the album masters maintaining thematic unity, with each song transitioning effortlessly into the next one, as can be appreciated between the skit “I Can’t Fucking Sing”– which refers to the time the artist lost his voice during a 2022 show — and “São Paulo.”
“Hurry Up Tomorrow” doesn’t hurry, and that’s its main drawback. The album feels extremely tedious and repetitive, having 22 tracks and lasting almost an hour and a half.
Already in the album’s opening track, “Wake Me Up,” The Weeknd delves into being “alone when it fades to black” and running out of time. He could have cut out unmemorable songs like “Big Sleep,” “Give Me Mercy” and “Drive,” and we would still get that he is struggling with fame and loneliness and wants his alter ego to disappear. If you’re certain there’s no tomorrow, just be concise and go away.
Regardless, “Hurry Up Tomorrow” is a remarkable way to let The Weeknd rest in peace and lean Tesfaye toward fresh phases in his musical career. In “Red Terror,” he whispered, “I have only slipped away into the next room” and “Call me by the old familiar name.”
Today ended and the artist can now move forward to reconnect with his true self.
Tomy Helman PO ’28 is a music columnist from Florida, Argentina. He’s interested in culture and politics, and currently speaks Spanish, English, French, Indonesian and Italian.
Facebook Comments