The Weeknd is Dead, Long Live Abel! A Review of Hurry Up Tomorrow
2025 seems to be a promising year for the music industry. Between already viral moments like Kendrick Lamars Super Bowl performance, the Grammys and a plethora of tour and album announcements by beloved artists. Of course, there is also another nail in the coffin for the career of a once widely acclaimed rapper, but the less we speak about that bizarre episode, the better.
One release we got early this year is the new album by Canadian singer-songwriter Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, one of the biggest mainstream stars to date. Being called Hurry Up Tomorrow, it is sixth studio album, following up on the critically acclaimed Dawn FM as well as After Hours. With predecessors like this, it is hard to soar to the heights he previously reached, so making the pressure to deliver all the higher. The album also comes at an interesting moment in time for Abel, as he is also in the midst of changing his stage name from his universally known alias to his real name. This is done in order to get back to his Ethiopian roots, reclaiming his cultural legacy.
One of the most noticeable aspects of Hurry Up Tomorrow is the length. With 22 songs, the album runs for 84 minutes, making it his longest record to date. For comparison, even the Starboy Deluxe Version only gets to a runtime of 80 minutes. So listening to it thoroughly takes time, but is it time well spent? Let's find out!
In this, the opening track Wake Me Up featuring the French band Justice, can almost be read as a reference to this change. Singing about his legacy and a life spent alone, it feels like he wants to have a change. Pleading to the listener to wake him up, we get a first taste of this new man. The song in general is a great start to the album, immediately getting you hooked. The next two tracks further this momentum, allowing for a great continuous listening experience.
The fourth song however is where it gets complicated. Sao Paulo featuring the Brazilian singer Anitta, is in my opinion, the worst Abel has to offer here. Not only does it not fit in with the rest of the album, it is overall a pain to listen to. Much of the song feels cheap, the Brazilian style beat feels more like a poor imitation than a legitimate recreation. On top of that, the music video is just truly bizarre and not in a good way. It currently sits at 650 thousand likes compared to the 140 thousand dislikes, so I don't really know what happenend behind the scenes so that it could go so wrong.
In contrast, the seventh track Open Hearts is another highlight. Not only is it a divine listening experience, it also reuses two common themes of Abels music (heartbreak and the finding of love) in an extraordinarily beautiful way. The simplicity of the lyrics elevate the message all the much more and it has been in constant rotation in my playlists the last couple of days.
One other disappointment on this album however is the newest collaboration between Abel and American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey, a song called The Abyss. While her voice compliments the melody, she comes surprisingly short with not having that much to do, which is a shame considering their past history of excellent collaborations. But with some luck we'll soon get The Abyss (feat, more Lana Del Rey).
Take Me Back To LA feels like a song written in dialogue to his song Escape from LA featured on After Hours. Whereas the latter was a plea to his lover to leave the city, the new song seems like a rebuttal of sorts. Abel finds himself wishing to be alone and more importantly back in the City of Angels. As conceptual as it is, it does pay off. In general, the album seems to take a fairly interesting approach to his older work, being somewhat critical of it. This is in line with the seeking of reinvention on Abels part.
The closing song is the titular Hurry Up Tomorrow. The track is a nice finisher, a nice reflection on Abel as a person. Given that in recent years he stirred up a few controversies, like his HBO show The Idol, he seems fairly honest here. In that, it's a nice breeze of fresh air.
However, it can at times feel a bit unearned, given that the album, as nice as it is to listen to, doesn't offer that much in terms of different sounds and themes. With a few exceptions (for example Sao Paulo), the record plays itself fairly safe. If you imagine on how a The Weeknd album normally sounds, this is what you get. Of course, this doesn't mean, that it isn't a great listen, because I do find it to be one. I just think that it can't fully earn the spot of a somewhat new beginning for the artist, when it takes fairly few risks. This extends to most songs and collaborations. I want to reiterate that it is a great album and the songs on it all have a nice listening experience to offer, but in the context of the external changes it falls a bit short. Also, while the songs are all nice, given the length and the amount of songs, some of them start to fade into the background. Some of them become a blur and don`t manage to stick out and stay memorable.
At the end of the day, Hurry Up Tomorrow is nothing game changing in terms of music or the career of Abel Tesfaye. If you want another The Weeknd album, that's similar to his previous work, you will not be disappointed. If you instead wished a bit more risk beyond a couple of songs, this album won't give you that. For my part, I can recommend it, given that it has quite a few bangers in its roster, but it probably won't rise up to be my favorite album of his.
REVIEW BY
Lars
Being brought up under deaf parents, as a partially hearing child, I have always struggeled with my search of identity. Inspired by far-distant worlds like middle earth and the tunes of Lord Huron, my goal is not only to tell great stories, but also to understand other people and their tales.