The Weeknd ‘After Hours’ – Review

From there, we’re painted a picture of a man who’s reached the top of the pop pyramid with nowhere left to go. ‘Hardest To Love’ and ‘Snowchild’ demonstrate deep rooted self-hate, both reflecting on turbulent and unhealthy behaviours of the past. As a whole the album sounds like late night musings, replicating the anxious regrets one only gets at three in the morning. There’s a calculated sadness and emptiness that threads ‘After Hours’ together, as tracks like ‘Escape From LA’ show a yearning for something new.

That’s not to say it’s without its fair share of bangers. ‘Blinding Lights’ is one you’ve no doubt heard already – it’s a huge hit on TikTok – while ‘In Your Eyes’ and ‘Scared To Live’ are slightly cheesy eighties new wave hits. There is something for every occasion here and, most importantly, it’s a consistently good project, a goal that has eluded The Weeknd for at least the last ten years. ‘After Hours’ is a sincere and complete work, one that has a natural conclusion and a well-paced track list.

Perhaps one criticism that could be given is that nothing feels particularly brand new here. The Weeknd keeps things firmly in his wheelhouse, sticking faithfully to the gloomy, airy aesthetic he made his name on. There are a ton of throwback sounds that would fit nicely on the ‘Stranger Things’ credits, many drug references, and some heartbreak anthems to keep you tiding over during lockdown,, but it’s not an absolute reinvention.

‘After Hours’ is The Weeknd at his best in a decade, an embrace of all his previous styles that works remarkably well. Introspection exists in spades here, and this will no doubt be one for the late night lockdown thoughts that we’ve all probably got racing around our heads at the moment. It’s nothing too drastic, but it’s the peak of The Weeknd’s eighties inspired moody synth pop. Where he goes next is up for debate – but it’ll be tough to outdo this one.