The Weeknd kicked his depression demons with a disco flare in his fifth studio album Dawn FM.
On Friday the 31-year-old singer — real name Abel Tesfaye — released the first music video for a track off the album, Sacrifice, which showed him being thrust into a sort of dancefloor ritual after being resurrected.
Of his new album, the Canadian crooner had previously teased that it would be about embracing a new dawn after his After Hours era — which was marked by a ‘dark and sad’ time.
A new dawn: The Weeknd, 31, released the music video for Sacrifice off his latest album Dawn FM on Friday which showed him experiencing a sort of resurrection and a human ritual with a disco flare
The four-minute video opens with the singer seemingly coming to fruition as an imaginary radio station (103.5 Dawn FM) says: ‘You’ve been in the dark for way too long, it’s time for you to walk into the light and accept your fate with open arms.’
The radio voice — which was revealed to be none other than Jim Carrey — continues to say: ‘Scared? Don’t worry, we’ll be there to hold your hand and guide you through this painless transition.’
He is then blasted by a blinding light while seemingly transitioning out of purgatory, at which point he wakes up on a dancefloor and gasping for air.
The video – which arouses visions of The Matrix — continues to see him on a journey towards finding the light.
Finding the light: The four-minute video opens with the singer seemingly coming to fruition as voice says ‘you’ve been in the dark for way too long, it’s time for you to walk into the light and accept your fate with open arms’
Literal evolution: The Canadian crooner had previously teased that the album would be about embracing a new dawn after being ‘blinded by the light’ in his After Hours era — which was marked by a ‘dark and sad’ time
On a journey: The voiceover continues to say that it would be a ‘painless transition’ to the other side as he is then seen blasted with light before coming to consciousness
He is dragged by men shielded in black cloaks to a torture-like wheel, which seems to be a sort of metaphor for being shackled by sadness.
The film’s ominous aesthetic quickly turns technicolor in parts, as he seems to find his footing again after being shrouded in darkness and heartache.
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The track, which was produced in collaboration with Swedish House Mafia and Max Martin, is of course a love ballad of sorts which talks about the willpower to survive after heartbreak.
In the chorus he sings in excerpt: ‘I sacrificed your love for more of the night’ showing a reflective journey, before finding strength as he sings: ‘Yeah, this life is still worth living.’
Resurrection: He is then seen waking up on a dancefloor and gasping for air after being in a sort of purgatory for an inexplicable amount of time
Human ‘sacrifice’: A nod to the track’s title throughout the video he is seen strapped to a torture-like wheel — a seeming metaphor for being shackled by sadness and darkness
Pushing through it: In the chorus he sings in excerpt: ‘I sacrificed your love for more of the night’ showing a reflective journey, before pushing past it as he sings: ‘Yeah, this life is still worth living.’
Technicolor escape: The video’s ominous aesthetic quickly turns technicolor in parts, as he seems to find his footing again after being shrouded in darkness and heartache
Dawn FM is the follow up to After Hours and this video shows him baring his face free of bandages.
He had stayed committed to the persona he created for over a year, appearing at award shows and music videos bloodied and bandaged with his face progressively morphing into what was eventually revealed to be a plastic surgery monster.
‘The significance of the entire head bandages is reflecting on the absurd culture of Hollywood celebrity and people manipulating themselves for superficial reasons to please and be validated,’ he had previously divulged.
After hours: ‘It was too dark and sad, it wasn’t cathartic at all,’ he explained of After Hours in a press session this week, and had teed up Dawn FM by saying ‘The after hours is done and the dawn is coming’; (left) pictured November 2020 (right) pictured May 2021
‘It was too dark and sad, it wasn’t cathartic at all,’ he explained of After Hours in a press session this week. ‘So I put that album down and created something more fantasy, more of an escape,’ he said of Dawn FM.
He had also teased previously of his newly released venture: ‘The after hours is done and the dawn is coming.’
Sacrifice marks the first music video off his new album, both of which were released on January 7. The 16-track album features collaborators including Tyler the Creator and Lil Wayne.
Source: Daily Mail
