Album Review: Dawn FM by The Weeknd

DAWN FM: Purgatory after the frenzy of After Hours

Dawn FM, the sixth studio album by The Weeknd, comes after Abel Tesfaye showcased one of the strongest eras a musician in modern times has presented. His larger-than-life approach of making his music sound like a cinematic experience has won millions across the globe. The red suit era started off that spanned almost two years culminating with one of the greatest performances in the history of the Superbowl. This spectacular journey had left a lot of people thinking about what’s going to come next, having done everything possible in less than two years, what can The Weeknd offer that has not been done by him yet. Then came the first single from Dawn FM, ‘Take My Breath’, that showed Abel taking his fondness of 80’s Synth music to the next level. His love for the ’80s seemed to have peaked in this new record as every song from this album is a throwback to the yesteryears with The Weeknd twist on it. The Weeknd along with his team of esteemed producers have done the job of making a sound from the past sound futuristic and new. 

Dawn FM is the journey of The Weeknd through purgatory. 103.5 Dawn Fm is the radio station that guides you through the tunnel where you finally see the light in the end. The DJ of this radio station is the man himself, Jim Carrey and he does a fine job at narrating the themes of the album. Judging by his past, and specifically by the songs on Dawn FM, The Weeknd believes he has a lot of atonement to do. The Weeknd talks about things he’s never talked about before and shows himself at his most vulnerable self. He’s not ready to settle down or give up anything for a relationship, but his heart aches at the thought of being someone’s sidepiece. He knows bad relationships are a crutch and lead to, well, a lot worse vices. And yet, he can’t bring himself to move on even though he spent time working on himself and becoming a better human. He knows his past sins will catch up to him, so he treats life like a track meet, only slowing down for the occasional introspection. 

To get a better understanding here’s a track by track breakdown of the album:

• Dawn Fm: Like every intro track from A Weeknd record this track opens up the listener to the sonic and lyrical themes of the album. Abel is trapped and confused as he’s alone again. The spacy synths and reverby vocals give us a feeling of the space that he’s in. The track also introduces us to the radio host Jim Carrey, who says that he’ll help him through this transition. 

• Gasoline: The Weeknd talks about being a nihilist and being stuck in his hopelessness on Gasoline. Abel breaks out a new voice deep and husky voice with an accent, that is reminiscent of the era that he’s trying to encapsulate in this record. The bouncy drums and plucky synths make you move to the beat, like a party in a different realm. 

• How Do I Make You Love Me: The party in the new realm continues with another dance floor banger. The high-octane energetic drums and the groovy synths make you feel like there’s nothing else left to do but to dance the pain away. Abel shows a mature side of him where he talks about making the girl fall in love with him and not looking for an easy escape from this relationship. The later part of the song, with the gasping matching the beats of the drums, leads up to the next track in one of the best transitions I’ve heard in years. 

• Take My Breath: ‘Take My Breath’ is 5 mins of pure dance floor bliss and something that Daft Punk would be proud to hear. The sinister synths and head-bobbing bass lead the production with The Weeknd talking about being okay with a choking fetish if the girl likes it. The album features the extended version of this song which has a long drawn instrumental bridge, that’s one of the sonic highlights of the album. 

• Sacrifice: Abel is stuck between choosing the girl or the night and he chooses to go for another night of partying. ‘Sacrifice’ employs Sweedish House Mafia to the production duty and they do a spectacular job. From the grunge guitars, infectious chorus, and the insanely groovy beat, the party in purgatory gets better and better. 

• A Tale By Quincy: Quincy Jones the legendary producer who has put his skills to use in producing some of the best songs ever made talks about his messed up history after his mother passed away and the struggles that it showed when he was growing up. This little interlude perfectly transitions the album into its second half, that’s slower and denser and also gives valuable insight into something that Abel might have faced in his life. Looking back is truly a bitch.

• Out Of Time: a gorgeous ballad about remorse and being against a ticking clock. As you move further the time also moves along and soon you realize that you’re out of it. This feels like a cut straight out of an 80’s romantic movie. The enchanting vocals of The Weeknd take you on a blissful journey and you start submerging yourself into Dawn Fm. Jim Carrey returns and carries The Weeknd into purgatory. 

• Here We Go Again: a flex fest about his legendary catalog, Superbowl performance, and his flamboyant lifestyle. The Weeknd talks about falling in love again even after giving himself many warnings in the past. Simple yet powerful harmonies over a grand piano make it sound like an out-of-body experience. Tyler comes along with a short and powerful verse that feels like a warning to The Weeknd who’s currently smitten and seems to be going into his patterns once again. 

• Best Friends: The Weeknd talks about a failing relationship both as lovers and friends because he’s not the best at handling delicate situations. The track sounds menacing and dark with very trap melodies comprising heavy percussions and 808’s. The sound starts distorting at the end leading up to the next. 

• Is There Someone Else: transitioning perfectly from the previous tracks with high-pitched voices muddled into the hypnotic beat, The Weeknd asks the girl a question about her loyalty. He doesn’t want to be in a relationship where he eventually ends up getting hurt. The intergalactic synths perfectly lead onto the next track.

• Starry Eyes: a companion piece for the preceding track, ‘Starry Eyes’ sounds just like the continuation of the previous track as it leads into more somber production with Abel’s voice taking the center stage over similar intergalactic synths from the earlier song. The Weeknd is starry-eyed about his potential partner and is ready to give it a try even if she kicks him to the curb, he knows that they are both broken and he still wants to give this a chance. 

• Every Angle Is Terrifying: the song starts out with some synths that transcend you into a different space. This follows by a spoken word from Abel where he presents an excerpt from German poet Maria Rilke, where he speaks about angels being terrifying. The production leads up to a bizarre commercial about Afterlife that sees The Weeknd random adjectives about Afterlife. (Could be a commercial for the next album or just something he did for a radio theme where the best songs are cut by annoying commercials)

• Don’t Break My Heart: ‘Don’t Break my Heart’ continues the party in purgatory with a dancefloor-ready beat and Abel’s deep vocals similar to the one he’s used throughout this album. The song talks about him not wanting his heartbroken by this girl who’s so good that she leaves him mesmerized and paralyzed. The song has a simple production compared to the others which gives Abel’s vocals a chance to shine once again.

• I Heard You’re Married: Calvin Harris comes on this track to lend his hand with the production and you can straight away hear a beautiful sounding bass guitar in the background. The Weeknd takes a U-turn from his usual lyrics about infidelity as this time he’s the one experiencing them. Lil Wayne joins forces with him on this cut with an entertaining verse which I really liked. His voice fits the beat and has some nice punchlines. 

• Less Than Zero: the most important track when it comes to the narrative of the entire album, ‘Less Than Zero’ sees The Weeknd accepting all his flaws in a moment of remembrance and remorse. The production sounds like Dawn, with an acoustic guitar, upbeat drums, and shimmering synths while The Weeknd pours his heart out admitting his faults and acknowledging that he’s not a good man. This deep cut sounds fresh and gorgeous, one of the best on the album. 

• Phantom Regret By Jim: As The Weeknd accepts his faults and his fate, Jim returns to take him to the next step in his journey into the afterlife. Jim Carrey puts on a commendable show on this track as he speaks about how remorse and regrets way you down and that Heaven is actually where you are, it’s within you and you have to first find it within yourself to be able to experience it (You gotta be Heaven to see Heaven). As Jim Carrey says his final words on the track we hear birds chirping that sound exactly the same as the ones on the intro track, indicating that purgatory is a continuous loop, you keep going back to where you started again and again. The cycle continues until you truly accept where you are and everything you’ve done.

Dawn Fm is by far The Weeknd’s most cohesive project. He proves that the art of album sequencing is still not dead and shows us how we can do it to create an amazing listening experience. Clocking in at around 51 mins, the album feels much shorter because of the effortless transitions and a similar sonic theme that runs throughout the album, solidifying the radio theme even more as we go deeper and deeper into the album. Once you hear one song you just end up listening to the entire album all over again. The songs sound similar but never the same and each one of them has the individual qualities that make it stand out. After Hours was a dancefloor record released when every dancefloor was under lockdown, an attempt to bridge the gap between a despondent persona and Billboard-charting retro-funk, flirting with both impulses without committing to either. On Dawn FM, released with essentially no fanfare, the Weeknd has gone all-in on a biblical fantasia, melding frisson and fear into euphoric disco and ’80s R&B with life and death stakes. And for the first time in all his dead-eyed chronicles of debauchery, he sounds a little scared about it. Dawn Fm sees The Weeknd at his most vulnerable self, trying to fight for his life and owning up to the things that he has done. We see a more mature and thought-provoking side of a man who’s used to manipulating people in every way he sees fit. The question of whether we’ll ever get the old able back keeps on giving the Trilogy Troopers many sleepless nights but what we are getting right now is nothing but brilliance and I don’t think I could have been happier with the way this turned out.