Hurry Up Tomorrow: The Weeknd

In 2011, The Weeknd invited listeners into a darkly seductive world where drug-fuelled parties and one-night stands faded into one another as he confronted personal demons in a trilogy of self-released mixtapes and for 14 years, he has explored the highs and lows of that lifestyle over six genre-defining studio albums. Hurry Up Tomorrow, which The Weeknd has said will be his final album, grapples with themes listeners have come to expect—self-destruction, isolation, addiction, lust, and heartache—but this time with a raw vulnerability that, in a lot of ways, feels like our first real peek behind his performing persona. The album is highly cinematic and its giant atmosphere is bolstered by synth-heavy production, seamless transitions from song to song, and sampling from the score of Scarface (a perfect conceptual and sonic fit for Hurry Up Tomorrow), which add to just how epic this album sounds. Hurry Up Tomorrow is not the usual collection of pop chart-toppers; listeners will find The Weeknd taking leaps—some more successful than others—in what is ultimately an exceptional finale. As a longtime fan, it’s hard to say goodbye, but I’m excited to see what Abel does with his “tomorrow.”

-Sidney Ulakovic

4/5