Tomorrow could not come quick enough on Thursday night. The Weeknd’s eighth and final studio album “Hurry Up Tomorrow” came out on Friday, including 22 tracks.
The Weeknd announced on Instagram a while back that his last record would be a completion to a trilogy, connecting his last two album releases “After Hours” and “Dawn FM” together in one storyline. Listening back to all three albums, it is clear that there is a journey of heartbreak, loneliness, regret, vulnerability, purgatory and ultimately acceptance.
"Hurry Up Tomorrow" is The Weeknd's eighth and final album under his stage name. The album is a completion of his musical journey.
The song “Hurry Up Tomorrow” was so strategically placed as the conclusion to the album and this journey; it blows my mind. It is an emotional ballad that is all about confessing his sins and being okay with dying. It is my personal favorite off the album, and it gives me this strong urge to cry every time I hear it.
His voice always melts into the chords on any of his songs, but the piano adds a layer to this song that makes it sadder in general. If you listen to the end of the song, it perfectly transitions into his first song, “High For This,” from his 2012 album “Trilogy.”
“Open Hearts” is my favorite upbeat song off the album. It is about his fear of falling in love and being vulnerable. I find it interesting that the lyrics focus on this fear, but then there is this crazy synth pop beat that reflects the adrenaline of love. A line in the chorus goes, “It’s never easy / falling in love again.” There is resistance, but he cannot help this feeling.
One of the darker songs off “Hurry Up Tomorrow” is “Reflections Laughing,” and this song features Travis Scott. He is talking about being haunted with who he once was, when he gets a call from a woman who is concerned that he is going back to his old self again. Drums are added to Scott’s verse, and his voice is reverbed deeper. Given what the song is about, it seems like Scott’s verse was tastefully added to represent the part of himself that’s “laughing” at him now.
“Timeless” featuring Playboi Carti is one of the most popular songs off the album, and it was released weeks prior to promote the album. “Take Me Back To LA” is another upbeat song that has direct correlation to The Weeknd’s song “Escape from LA” on his album “After Hours.”
In “Take Me Back To LA” he is reminiscing on how things used to be and cannot go back, where in “Escape from LA” he is begging to leave. There’s an underlying meaning presented within the two that sometimes you do not realize what you have until it’s gone.
Similar correlations can be heard is his songs “Cry For Me” and “Die For You”. In “Die For You” he is talking about being deeply in love with someone and there is this self-sabotage thing happening, and in “Cry For Me” there is this deep regret he has. There are many other correlations between song titles on "Hurry Up Tomorrow" to his past, and it is not pure coincidence but intentional and so meaningful.
The Weeknd is retiring this stage persona he created and will hopefully continue to make music under his actual name, Abel Tesfaye. "Hurry Up Tomorrow" is a beautiful farewell to The Weeknd, and it is definitely worth taking the time to listen to. Every weekend eventually comes to an end.
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