Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

The Weeknd released the last part of his ongoing trilogy Friday, possibly foreshadowing the end of Abel Tesfaye’s alter ego as we know it.

The Weeknd’s sixth studio album, “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” released alongside the announcement of his 2025 stadium tour, “After Hours Til Dawn.” The tour will support his new album, which is also the soundtrack to his upcoming movie of the same name set to release this May.

This album is considered the final chapter of a trilogy, starting with 2020’s “After Hours” and followed by 2022’s “Dawn FM.”

In an Instagram post, The Weeknd said 2025 was the year of a “new everything,” signaling the end of his love for the fast lane — sex, drugs, models and nightlife. The album’s 22 tracks seem to be describing what he feels during the comedown.

The Weeknd keeps the album’s songs engaging with a variety of features from Playboi Carti on “Timeless,” to Travis Scott and Florence + The Machine on “Reflections Laughing” and Lana Del Rey on “The Abyss.” Del Rey’s prophetic voice takes listeners back to earlier songs from “Ultraviolence” or “Lust for Life.”

The opening song, “Wake Me Up,” starts with an ethereal, yet eerie, electronic sound with synth keys. It’s daunting and grandiose, with The Weeknd saying all he has left is his legacy. However, the track transitions to a more upbeat pop we’ve heard before on tracks like “Sacrifice.” He sings that he wants to be woken up from his paralysis, almost like he’s stuck in a bad dream.

“Wake me up, come find me / It feels like I’m dying / Wake me up, these demons / Keep creeping, don’t fear ‘em,” The Weeknd sings.

This first track transitions right into “Cry For Me” — a classic nighttime synth-pop track from The Weeknd. The synth beat is reminiscent of his older music, and conventional for him. The song foreshadows the experimental, disco and electronic dance music found throughout this album.

Lily Zuckerman | Design Editor

The 12-second intermission that follows, “I Can’t F—— Sing” references the moment on stage during his 2022 “After Hours ‘Til Dawn” tour when The Weeknd lost his voice. He had to take a break to rest, which partly prompted the reflections of his career made apparent in this album.

These brief intermission tracks, another one being “Opening Night,” feel like a cinematic production, with The Weeknd’s dreamy vocals and action-packed background beats, alluding to his upcoming film.

An energetic and upbeat divergence from the rest of the album’s dark tone, “São Paulo” features Brazilian pop artist, Anitta. The song gives nighttime club energy with its baile rhythms, creating a scene of a sultry, seductive encounter The Weeknd has with a woman.

And then, almost instantaneously, after another intermission track, we’re right back into the all-consuming career retrospective with the song, “Baptized In Fear.” The Weeknd uses the bathtub with water flowing in as a metaphor for the sins of fame catching up to him. He’s cornered by a career riddled with wrongs.

“I’ve been baptized in fear, my dear / Like Paul, I’m the chief of sin / Washing my soul within,” The Weeknd says.

Referring to himself as the “chief of sin” echoes Paul the Apostle’s early claims as the “chief of sinners” before his conversion to Christianity. The Weeknd is aware of all the guilt he now feels from mistakes he’s made, and now he can’t escape from what feels to be washing over him.

Despite the shame in this song, tracks that follow like “Enjoy The Show” featuring Future regress to unhealthy behaviors. The Weeknd contemplates getting sober, but succumbs to substance abuse, telling everyone to enjoy the show. It adds another layer of melancholy and soul to the album, with a sense of finality.

Toward the end of the album, “Without a Warning” is a gut-wrenching example of the price of fame. This song further pushes the autobiographical nature of this album. It’s like the final curtain call for The Weeknd — the crowd will still scream his name even when he can’t seem to keep up with the pressures of stardom.

The Weeknd wishes to go back to a time when he was younger, where it was easier to mask his pain. But now, drug abuse has caught up to him, and masking it doesn’t pay off anymore: his “tears fall without a warning either way.”

This artistic breakdown ends with the track, “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” a soulful song where The Weeknd knows his fame is caving in on him and he accepts it. It almost takes on a hopeful tone, as if he’s ready for his career to end and wants someone to watch over him from above.

He sings that he’d like to trade in lies and pain for actual change in his life, now showing the progression toward acceptance and deliverance.

“Hurry Up Tomorrow” takes us through the journey of The Weeknd’s career with a range of styles, from slow beats reminiscent of “House of Balloons,” to nighttime synth pop like “Starboy” or “After Hours.” Since his debut, his work has simultaneously built him up and tore him down.

Tesfaye has hinted at a self-reinvention and talked about giving up his The Weeknd persona. Whether or not he abandons it all entirely, a new tour and movie proves he’s not ready to leave the spotlight just yet.

Published on February 3, 2025 at 9:35 pm

Contact Mia: mjones58@syr.edu