The Weekend’s new album gives fans a new perspective

Ekene Osuchukwu

In March, R&B artist The Weeknd released his album  After Hours that gave fans a new understanding of his artistic vision.

While The Weeknd is most known for his triple platinum album Starboy, the artist’s style ranges beyond the pop shine of the record. His music has a balance of gloomy, sadistic, melancholy, yet sexy tones, and this album features all of them and more. In After Hours we get to see more of Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd’s real name) without all the sex, parties, and drugs. While this is a post-breakup album following the split of Tesfaye and his long time girlfriend Bella Hadid, the album also includes self realizations of his character and even his faith. The album leaves you having some pity for The Weeknd, yet still understanding his fears and experiences. In tracks like “After Hours” and “Alone Again,” we see that he is afraid to be on his own with lyrics like, “I don’t know if I can be alone again/I don’t know if I can sleep alone again.” And in tracks like “Snowchild,” we hear about his mysterious past while getting a glimpse into his future—a   future that seems likely to include self reflection and isolation.

The creative energy throughout After Hours reassured The Weeknd’s fans that he could take on emotional ballads like “Scared to Live” while also being emotionally unavailable in bangin’ tracks like “Heartless” in the same album. The range of emotions was reflected not only through the lyrics, but through the hard beats and rhythms of the tracks. After Hours also has several songs produced by Metro Boomin’ like “Faith” and “Escape From LA” which talk about him losing his religion and needing to get out of the LA life.

The entire work of After Hours is a story of heartbreak and isolation that shows us deeper into Tesafye’s life. I personally have listened to The Weeknd ever since his 2012 album Trilogy and After Hours has completely blown me away! It has been on repeat for me ever since the release and I find a new song to love every week. My favorite tracks on the album are “Too Late,” “Hardest to Love,” “Faith,” “Heartless,” and “Repeat After Me.” They all have different vibes but his voice is smooth and impressive throughout. After Hours has broken records for the most global pre-ads in Apple Music history, with over 1.02 million users. As tracks like “Blinding Lights” and “Heartless” still continue to climb the charts, The Weeknd has just started giving his fans a taste of his real self.