Ola Rzeszut
The Weeknd’s character development – or perhaps downfalls – is so thoroughly intertwined with the music and his performances that it’s impossible not to admire Abel Tesfaye’s sheer greatness and mastery.
His sixth and final studio album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, showcases the dramatic journey of this character in completing his trilogy, which includes albums After Hours and Dawn FM
Melancholy, a heartbroken superstar falling into bad habits, emotional instability, and despair are all common themes found throughout every album, as well as this immense character development.
Yet this album embraces rebirth, finality, and a yearning for forgiveness. It feels like a peaceful journey toward the inevitable end.
It exudes a sense of clarity and acceptance without trying to fight back as if this was the end that The Weeknd had envisioned from the very beginning.
Backstory
The loss of Abel Tesfaye’s voice during a performance at the Sofi Stadium in 2022, which forced him to cancel and reschedule the show, had an impact, and also meant huge repercussions for the album.
It took a huge toll on his mental health and led to Hurry Up Tomorrow being largely reworked to reflect his mental state.
This event was also the nail in the coffin for The Weeknd’s persona, as it became a divine moment of reflection, where he didn’t see this story continuing any further.
A transitional song in the album highlights this moment, bluntly named ‘I Can’t Fucking Sing’.
During the song, we hear an audio clip from backstage at Sofi Stadium, where you can hear his frustrations and the pressure of being unable to perform.
The Tracklist
The album starts with ‘Wake Me Up’ which samples Michael Jacksons ‘Thriller’, who has always inspired Abel Tesfaye and his music.
However, this song in particular adds an underlying eerie tone, foreshadowing death and his demons creeping in.
The Weeknd explores different styles throughout the album while still being cohesive, highlighted by the song ‘Sao Paulo’, which includes Brazilian funk with Anitta or synth-pop with melancholy undertones with ‘Baptised in Fear’ and ‘Reflections Laughing’.
The lyrics hold up a mirror to the internalised acceptance of being unable to do anything anymore, and the end closing in.
The lyrics also encourage self-reflection on not only the past but the entire journey which The Weeknd has created, encountering feelings of regret and loneliness yet still trying to make peace with it.
The album also includes a couple of highly anticipated unreleased tracks, which were previewed on Instagram Live in 2020. ‘The Abyss’ and ‘Take Me Back to LA’ are perfect additions to the tracklist.
‘The Abyss’ in particular features Lana Del Rey, whose vocals are ethereal and almost siren-like, proving yet again that they are a flawless collaboration where lyrics and energies are intertwined seamlessly.
Final thoughts and review of Hurry Up Tomorrow
With the closing song ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’, The Weeknd asks for forgiveness, while also trying to forgive himself and to be released from his guilt.
He addresses his mother whom he apologises to in the song, which is interesting because when we are close to death, one most commonly calls out to their mother for comfort.
The final song ends in a way that perfectly transitions into the first song on The Weeknd’s first-ever mixtape, ‘House of Balloons’.
By creating this cyclical structure, The Weeknd persona can never die out completely because it always continues – in a state of a constant loop.
The story is too powerful to be closed off entirely, and as such, he falls into the same patterns over and over again.
With the album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, Abel Tesfaye is ‘killing off’ The Weeknd as an alter ego and allowing for change by fully acknowledging the power this persona holds and letting it come to an end – as all great things do.
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Featured image courtesy of Kane Reinholdtsen on Unsplash. The image license is found here. No changes have been made to this image.
