New album “Dawn FM”
:
The Weeknd bows to Michael Jackson
“Dawn FM” is The Weeknd’s fifth album.
Photo: Squad / Arena
The Canadian star released his new album overnight. Dawn FM presents a driving radio show in the dark and in the light. The sixteen pieces oscillate between the exotic and the alluring.
The Weeknd, one of the world’s greatest solo artists, released his new album Friday Night. The 31-year-old musician, born Abel Tesfaye of Toronto, should be known to most people for his hit song “Blinding Lights”. The track was the biggest hit of 2020, it’s still on the radio and every time you can’t help but play it.
“Dawn FM” is the name of the new album, and it has been positioned as a radio show. The artist imagines that you can hear them driving through purgatory. The DJ performing the show is actor Jim Carrey. Relax, Carrie says, “I’ve been in the dark for too long anyway.” The epidemic-affected listener nodded. The Weeknd and Carrey know each other because they don’t live far from each other and find out at some point that they both have a telescope by the window.
The album is pretty good, even if it’s a bit long like every single big pop star has done. But the more pieces you have, the more views you stream. Sixteen Tracks was produced by Max Martin, who has provided international hits to an incredible number of artists, from Britney Spears to Taylor Swift. Daniel Lopatin has also worked, and this is where things get interesting. Because the guy who calls his own music project Oneohtrix Point never belongs to the electronic avant-garde, one of the famous creators.
“Dawn FM” oscillates between weird and catchy. “Every Angel is Terryfying” looks like a trailer for an ’80s movie just released on VHS. “Less Than Zero” offers The Weekend’s best vocal performance to date.
The man, whose style is perhaps best described as a sarcastic-nihilistic RnB, once again affirms his love for Michael Jackson’s work. Based on the model of the Daft-Punk piece “Giorgio By Giorgio,” in which the French duo champion spoke about his aesthetics in 2013, Quincy Jones tells of his unparent youth in “A Tale by Quincy.” Jones produced Michael Jackson’s greatest work, and at the weekend, The Weeknd presented “Out Of Time,” which could easily have been written for Jackson’s record “Off The Wall.”
Otherwise, there is a noticeable move towards the middle stage of Depeche Mode. The dark side of the ’80s is, however, the period that The Weeknd clearly revere the most. Dark luster leads you with soft, velvety rhythms. You only hear “petrol”. It’s almost as if he had “Drive” in his head, with Ryan Gosling in a high-gloss jacket with an embroidered scorpion doing his job: Shift up and be fast.
As usual, the poems are about strange affection a lot, but lately it is also about successes that can be boasted. Rappers Lil’ Wayne and Tyler, The Creator were welcomed as guests. At the end of this impressive album, Jim Carrey says in a surprising voice: “You have to be heaven to see heaven / May peace be with you.”
