Last month, The Weeknd released his highly anticipated album “Hurry Up Tomorrow” on Jan. 31, under his group label, XO Inc., marking his eighth solo album in his catalog that has spanned over 14 years.
Since Abel’s last release, “Dawn FM,” back on Jan. 6, 2022, fans have been in the loop waiting for the expected release of this project and the idea of it being the final piece to The Weeknd’s story.
Abel has fed off these ideas of it being his last album under the name of The Weeknd in the built-up anticipation for this final installment in this new trilogy consisting of “After Hours,” “Dawn FM” and now “Hurry Up Tomorrow.”
This trilogy marks the end of the character which resembles the upcoming of the same character back in 2011 when Abel first published his original mixtapes, “House of Balloons,” “Thursday” and “Echoes Of Silence” under a collective album called “Trilogy” published under XO, Inc.
This being The Weeknd’s final album, it seems to bring the character full circle, with a final album littered with parallels to his past work, ranging back to the first mixtape in 2011.
With a runtime of one hour and 24 minutes, the listener is brought through this rollercoaster of instrumentals and synths that create a surreal soundscape that encapsulates this new era and final era of The Weeknd perfectly.
This theme is met with production from people from the likes of Metro Boomin, Justice, Giorgio Moroder, Pharrell Williams, Mike Dean and many more.
The project brings a vivid and saturated story following Abel battling with himself regarding redemption, addiction, past relationships and most importantly the challenge of “letting go” of the character and lifestyle that comes with The Weeknd.
These themes of letting go of the lifestyle are highlighted in tracks like “Given Up On Me.” Accompanied by a drowning melancholy beat produced by Mike Dean, Metro Boomin and Oneohtrix Point Never, Abel opens up about letting go of himself and hoping for redemption when he is at his career peak but mentally at a low.
“Oh, save me/ Fill another cup of the forsaken/ Yeah, ’til my stomach achin’, bloated in my face, and/ Face it,” Abel sings.
The song perfectly encapsulates the addictions that he has openly struggled with throughout his career along with him walking the tightrope of actions with fatal consequences.
Another keynote in this record is the idea of redemption and the hardships that come with it, as shown on tracks like “Baptized In Fear” which dive heavily into this subject.
“I’ve been baptized in fear, my dear/ I’ve been the chief of sin/ washing my soul within,” Abel sings.
This theme is scattered throughout this album posing the question of whether he is even redeemable, and if so at what cost. These ideas all weave together a story of redemption for a character with such a checkered history struggling with accepting past mistakes in hopes of a brighter tomorrow.
Throughout this album, we, the listeners, get so many callbacks to former pop music legends and aspects of past albums in Abel’s catalog. One of the most notable callbacks in this album would be the edition of a Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” reference in the instrumental on the opening track “Wake Me Up (feat. Justice).”
Considering the constant comparison between the two and their legacies, this moment makes for an amazing piece in the album.
One very poetic piece of this album is the end of the final song “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” as the music fades out on this final album it perfectly ties back into Abel’s first project under The Weeknd on the first song “High For This.”
This once again contributes to the idea of The Weeknd being a character with a dangerous repeating cycle of sin that can only truly be broken by true redemption, of killing off this character symbolically and leaving it behind for a brighter tomorrow.
When it comes to the album-making process, Abel never fails to deliver a similar feeling to past projects for all of his fans who have been with him and his music since the beginning, and this album is no different in delivering that same nostalgic feeling to old and new fans.
Regardless of the time between when he first came on the scene to his current day status amongst the greats in the music industry, Abel continues to bring an immersive world to his fans and listeners around the world and this album feeds into that narrative giving fans a new sound and theme to digest.
Having this be the farewell to a character that has been held to such a high status in the music industry is the ribbon wrapped around the last gift.
Setting a bar so high just to continuously knock it to the next level is something that Abel does well consistently and this album continues this streak.
On Jan. 31, the same day as the release of the album, The Weeknd announced his “After Hours Till Dawn 2025 Stadium Tour” which will run from May 9 until Sept. 3. The tour will go through a vast majority of states, with a tracklist that covers the catalog of The Weeknd’s most notorious hits and new tunes, with Mike Dean as a special guest.
This being the end of an era, it’s fitting that this album is accompanied by a theatrical film “Hurry Up Tomorrow” with a release slated for May 16.
With a gospel final to the character, fans can only hope that Abel continues to push the boundaries of his potential with whatever comes next in his career.
