On September 4th, 2024, Abel Tesfaye–known artistically as The Weeknd–dropped a cryptic video which, in slowly scrolling red text, revealed the name of his upcoming album: Hurry Up Tomorrow. The album will serve as the concluding piece of his most recent trilogy and act as a farewell to his iconic pseudonym. Shortly after the album’s announcement, its lead single “Dancing in the Flames” was dropped in a similar style. The song, cleanly produced with upbeat synths and catchy lyrics, is by no means a bad song. However, considering the enigmatic tone of the album’s promotion and its place within his carefully-crafted and compelling catalogue, its conventional dance-pop sound falls short of expectations. In my opinion, its polished sound serves as its downfall–the song feels too comfortable in its conventions. As a lead single, it does a lacklustre job setting up the album–especially within the context of its predecessors.
“Blinding Lights”, the lead single off After Hours, is the most streamed song on Spotify of all time – by almost half a billion streams. Dawn FM’s lead single, “Take My Breath”, though less successful on the charts, was highly regarded by critics. In many ways, Dawn FM was a continuation of After Hours, taking it to the next level both sonically and conceptually. Hurry Up Tomorrow, as their successor, is expected to complete their thematic arc. “Dancing in the Flames” as its introduction, especially in comparison to “Blinding Lights” and “Take my Breath”, feels stagnant. Rather than evolving his sound further, the song feels predictable and almost formulaic.
This being said, Hurry Up Tomorrow is one of the most anticipated albums of the year – probably my most anticipated album of the year. Though “Dancing in the Flames” fell short of expectation, the album has the potential to close the curtain on The Weeknd in a way that truly foregrounds his incredibly dynamic and innovative contributions to music over the last decade.
3 STARS
“The Weeknd Portrait by Brian Ziff” by Brian Ziff is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.