But instead of opting for either arena-filling hits or the shadowy downtempo tunes of his early releases, Tesfaye instead switches between the two modes on ‘After Hours’, managing to produce his most all-encompassing record to date.

Collaborating with the likes of Daft Punk, Lana Del Rey and Ed Sheeran, Tesfaye maintained his brooding and sleazy subject matter while scoring hits by pairing his signature falsetto to radio-friendly pop backdrops or upbeat nu-funk grooves.Īhead of this new album release, The Weeknd promised “no more daytime music” and “a new brain melting psychotic chapter,” suggesting a much darker record than its immediate predecessor. It followed chart-propelling dabbles with disco and funk-indebted electro, as the Canadian crooner transcended his initial cult-like status to make a surprisingly seamless crossover to the mainstream. Tesfaye’s last release, the 2018 EP ‘My Dear Melancholy’, signalled something of a sonic retreat, a stylistic U-turn back to the downtempo noir-pop of his early work. It’s a record free of features and full of probing self-reflection. It’s a gift and a curse but it helps me give undivided attention to my work… It distracts from the loneliness, I guess.” It’s a coincidence, certainly, but one very fitting that the first big album release of this period of global self-isolation should come from R&B’s foremost Abel Tesfaye. “I don’t like to leave my house too much. “I spend most of my days alone now,” The Weeknd said of his solitary, workaholic ways in a recent interview.

The weeknd new album reddit