Review Summary: 4/5/2020 - My darkest hours
The Weeknd as a character, to me, has always seemed to be misunderstood by both the fans and detractors of Abel’s body of work. I don’t think i'm breaking ground when inferring that The Weeknd is a project that focuses on illustrating horror and apathy through the veneer of glamour. However, I always feel as though I am all alone when the criticisms of misogyny and one-noteness come marching in with each record and the sole defense by fans of The Weeknd is to simply deny that those criticisms are valid. Those observations aren’t wrong. Far from it. Yet I can’t help but feel as though they are grossly out of touch when the conclusion always ends with “therefore it’s bad”.
Have we become too weary of work that dabbles with the problematic to make a grander statement? And if not grandeur, to simply reflect on the material conditions of our existence with neutrality and to trust us with the agency to determine what it means? Like, sure, this music is sexy. Like, really sexy oof did someone turn up the thermostat? But sexy isn’t always glamour and glamour isn’t always commendation. The Trilogy has always seemed critical of its own existence, unhappy with the narratives constructed through the mystery of what were life experience and the liberties granted by embellishment. Those mixtapes are nightmarish, hollow hellscapes of drug hazed sex and inhumanity. The critical angle that the trilogy is framed by is not explicit, mind you, but the observations and the environments exist. The point of view we are granted to see the world of pre-fame Abel Tesfaye with is not a pretty sight. It’s the music of a husk struggling to hold on to what little humanity exists within reach only to choose time and time again to betray it in favor of what’s become normal.
Of course it’s misogynistic, of course it obsesses over drugs and girls and machismo and sex with girls and drugs. But like, is it not clear that the text of the trilogy is at odds with the atmosphere it's immersed in? Am I crazy? Am I the only one who finds these mixtapes to be really unnerving and disturbing? I have found myself infatuated with
After Hours. It’s as though a switch has been flipped that has completely transformed The Weeknd into something new. I took notice of it with “I Feel it Coming” back in 2017. It was uncharacteristically heartfelt. Humane. It had softness and tenderness that while perverted was genuinely full of care. It was a stark contrast to an album that was otherwise dark and moody.
There’s this moment on the album, a big bombastic moment found within the Blinding Lights/In Your Eyes/Save Your Tears suite where it all becomes so clear. It’s the loudest, the funkiest, the saxiest, the most heartfelt moment in the album. The pace picks up and the energy rises, thumping and punctuated with hype yelps. The groove pays no mind to the concept of tonal consistency. The Weeknd reflects on failed relationships and offers promises of going forward with being better. It screams triumph. It's freedom from the chains of apathy and inhumanity and liberation from albums that sold that negativity as a brand. For the first time in a years long discography we see warmth in the coldest depths of the darkest places.
After Hours is the disintegration of The Weeknd. And it's amazing.
