Dawn FM - The Weeknd: Review
The Weeknd
has spent the last few years transitioning from an influential voice in commercial R&B to a full blown pop superstar. The massive success of his After Hours album and its resulting singles in 2020 turned him into one of the biggest stars in the music industry and he looks to continue the upward momentum on this new album which was dropped with only one pre-release single and a week of promotion.
Review By Lav:
I've loved The Weeknd for a long time. For years the narrative surrounding his music was that of a singles artist, who had hit after hit but his albums never quite lived up to the quality standard of his original trio of mixtapes. He bucked those trends on After Hours dropping a genuinely fantastic pop record with commercial high points and a deep selection of compelling album tracks. This combined with his excellent single last year Take My Breath had me incredibly excited for what he would do in 2021. Turns out I didn't have to wait long because he spent the first week of the year doing a surprise concise promo run for his new record followed by a debut livestream at midnight on its release night. It was a blitz of promotional material and weird rumors surrounding the albums strange cover, the alleged Tyler and Wayne features, a detailed radio station concept and even Jim Carey narrating the project. So I did my best to cut through the noise and drill into what Abel was aiming for on the record, and whether or not he achieved it.
So conceptually Dawn FM is clearly named after a radio station, but I was both surprised and impressed by just how deep the radio station concept goes. Firstly this isn't just generic pop radio. In Dawn FM Abel imagines a nocturnal 80's synth pop radio station that plays while you're in purgatory, yeah. On top of this Abel borrows from Your Old Droog and Anthony Jeselnik by pulling Jim Carey to be the narrator of the station delivering introductions and outro to a number of tracks on the album and handling the intro and outro cuts. The album also features spoken passages from Quincy Jones and Uncut Gems co-director Josh Safdie of all people that help round out a diverse roster of collaborators on the performance side of things.
So that's the concept side of things but you might be surprised to learn that the musical elements of the record are just as thematically tight. It's hard to say just how much influence Oneohtrix Point Never had on the conceptualizing and production of the record. Given that he is listed as a writer and producer on every song and that the concept sort of borrows from his 2020 album Magic, I would say a lot. His synth mastery and ear for fantastical soundscapes shows up all over this project and helps quite a bit to make these track work together to for the larger than life concept.
So big picture The Weeknd did a great job conceptualizing and executing a unique and compelling concept across an entire album, but how good are the actual songs. Turns out they are also pretty good. Take My Breath was the albums slam dunk having been released as a single last year to massive critical acclaim. I'm glad to see the full song here on the record and to see it used to well as a transitional point in and out of the songs surrounding it. It's a catchy and hard-hitting rendition of the slick hyper 80's revivalism kick that Abel has been on and by all accounts one of the best songs he's made in recent years.
Sacrifice is the next single and the one I anticipate we will be hearing quite a bit over the next few months. From the slick bass line to the Daft Punk synths to the earnest hook it has everything that made hits for Abel in the past. I love the punchy hook and the great vocal performance he delivered but it's really the production that shines on the song which should be no surprise given Max Martin and Swedish House Mafia had a hand in it. Out Of Time is the next hit in the tracklist that turns back the clock to a more emotional side of synth pop and its pulled off perfectly. The song flirts with being sensual and grievous but more than anything it's heartfelt. The beautiful splashes of group vocals on the soaring hook go perfectly with that sensation of heartbreak and regret and it all adds up to another great song.
Best Friends is one of the sneakier highlights in the second half and is one of the albums horniest moments. While he has mostly transcended his heartbreaker image by this point the song has hints of it and has an edgy sheen brough on by the pummeling drums and distant wailing synth lines. The record closes off with a trio of great tracks and a great spoken word finale all started off by Don't Break My Heart. The track is another major production highlight with a killer multi-faceted hook. It feels like the point on the record where the concept comes into perfect harmony with Abel's swagger to feel genuinely larger than life. The spoken word bridge really drives it all home and is one of my favorite moments on the record.
I Heard You Married is up next and it might have my favorite hook on the entire record. Lil Wayne makes a surprising appearance over a piece of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis style 80's funk that I absolutely adore. While I'll admit I was skeptical of Wayne and Abel teaming up at first I have come around to his performance in a big way as he adds a hilarious recontextualization to the hook that ends the song off in a great way. Less Than Zero is the grand and absolutely stunning finale full song on the record and one that I could see becoming a potential hit based purely on the fact that I can't get enough of it. The track's chorus is the point where Abel finally reaches the maximal level of bliss achieved by the best 80's synth pop songs and every single piece of OPN instrumentation is placed perfectly alongside his melodies. This track is one of the records biggest achievements plain and simple.
Not every song on the record is great, in fact this isn't one of the more consistent collection of tracks he's ever released. But a lot of these songs benefit from their inclusion on the record and the valuable additions they make to its concept, none more than Gasoline. It's a pretty good tone setter for the album even if it isn't my favorite track. With the stuttering sequenced drums and pitched down vocals the whole thing has an eerie surreal feeling to it without ever losing the bouncy pop sensation. Is There Someone Else? is another good example. The song is so thoroughly enrichened by the icy synths placed so perfectly throughout that even though I don't think it has the best refrains or more detailed lovesick narrative it still sounds so good. Finally there's Starry Eyes which is halfway between a proper song and an interlude. It does add an intimate touch that the album doesn't have anywhere else and transitions well between the songs that bookend it.
Here We Go... Again is a song that was always going to attract major attention given that it sports a Tyler, The Creator feature. Unfortunately it isn't one of the better songs here starting with the stark paring of Abel's vocals an organ style keys plus the occasional crowd sample in the background that all adds up to a just plain weird sound. Tyler's feature is fine for the most part but stands out like a sore thumb on the track and really on the entire album and I'm just left very confused by this song. My least favorite song on the album is How Do I Make You Love Me? which kicks off with some really stiff sounding synths right in the forefront. The refrain on the hook is really the let down because it has a rush of backing instrumentation that I really enjoy but the chorus falls flat. The song has some charming instrumental flourishes but that's pretty much all I like about it.
So that's Dawn FM already probably one of the longest reviews I'll write this year and its January 10th. There's a lot here to unpack for those of us who have been following Abel for a decade now. Purely in terms of concept this is the most ambitious album of Abel's career and while the actual songwriting is less than consistent, the album builds an extremely enjoyable world for those songs to live in. The variety of interludes make for a refreshing listen throughout and Jim Carey genuinely shines as the records narrator. The album crafts a nocturnal and punchy throwback 80's sound that I find myself enjoying quite a bit but what ultimately makes the project is it uses the concept to add up to something better than the sum of its parts. This may go down as one of The Weeknd's more indulgent moments and it may not be for everyone, but I have to say I enjoyed my time with the album and had fun breaking down everything there is to it. 7.5/10
This cover is shot well. I love the quality of light, the expression and the simplicity but I don't think it's strong enough to be the album cover. After listening to the record and seeing the recent music video for Sacrifice I think there was so much potential for a better complimentary album cover to the concept. This seems like a backup plan to me. It's nice but I was expecting a lot more after how successful After Hours was. 6/10
For more Weeknd check out my review of After Hours here
