After close to two years of anticipation, The Weeknd has finally released his new album ‘Dawn FM’. The 16 track album draws inspiration from this Michael Jackson. It is synth indulgent album and offers an exceptionally cinematic listening experience.
The Weeknd, who goes by the real name of Abel Tesfaye is known for his mysterious character, rarely engaging in interviews, and leading a very secretive lifestyle. Originally, he admits that at the start of his career, he was nervous and camera-shy. However, after realising this level of secrecy kept people wanting more, he began using it to his advantage to maintain a long, successful career; and it seems to be working. The star announced his new album just four days before its release, making it a surprise attack.
The Weeknd is No Stranger to a Concept Album
Tesfaye is a very conceptual artist and has played with personas throughout his musical career, with ‘The Weeknd’ being his alter ego. In his previous studio album, ‘After Hours’ the music videos created an entire story, with the character becoming bloodied and bruised, then covered in bandages followed by a full face of plastic surgery.
So, of course, it come as no surprise that the new album, ‘Dawn FM’, is a concept album. The Weeknd’s character for this album is himself as an old man, and many believe the songs are conveying his journey in purgatory, on his way to the afterlife. This musical, spiritual awakening discusses his previous personal experiences and explores his acceptance and accountability for his mistakes with his intimate relationships and drug abuse.
This raises the question of whether The Weeknd as a character has passed away, as he sings, ‘I know there’s nothing after this’. Could this be the end of the alter ego?
The entire album follows a radio concept, which explains the title, ‘Dawn FM’. Yet, one thing no one could have expected, is that the radio presenter would be Jim Carey. No, I’m not joking.
The album opens with the title track, ‘Dawn FM’ which provides an immediate atmosphere with cinematic synths and bird sounds, followed by Abel’s expectedly flawless vocals that work to build an eerie tension. The last 25 seconds of this short intro track introduces us to the radio concept, as we hear Jim Carey saying:
‘You are now listening to 103.5 Dawn FM
You’ve been in the dark for way too long
It’s time to walk into the light
And accept your fate with open arms’
Dawn FM Album Production
No successful album comes without great producers, and the production on Dawn FM is unarguably, very strong. The Weeknd has collaborated with Max Martin for years, and it doesn’t seem like that is changing anytime soon. As the main producer, Martin bring his chart-topping pop expertise. He is also accompanied by Daniel Lopatin, a newer collaboration, focusing more on bringing the experimental electronic streak to the tracks. Swedish House Mafia also make for a fresh addition to the album as they bring their own club flair to the fifth track of the album, ‘Sacrifice’. The producers on this album did a good job at modernising a very vintage sound, that The Weeknd tends to opt for, which will come in handy for its commercial success.
We physically cannot talk about this album without talking about synths. You literally can’t miss them; they are on every track from start to finish. Whilst it definitely captures the 1980’s pop-disco feel, it’s potentially synth overload. Don’t get me wrong, we all love a synth, but I feel we’re bordering on dangerous territory here, at risk of all the tracks blending into one. There’s nothing worse than listening to an album and not being able to tell one song from another.
One thing this creation does impeccably is the breath-taking transitions (quite literally), that result in a cohesive project. The cross over between ‘How do I Make You Love Me’ and ‘Take My Breath’, is so seamless, that you wouldn’t realise the song had changed unless you were looking at the track list. The first song ends with short-sharp breaths which continue through the introduction of the new instrumentation of ‘Take My Breath’. Utterly flawless.
Jim Carey guides us through another outstanding transition between ‘Out of Time’ and ‘Here We Go Again’ with his Radio-style interlude. The speech carries directly over to the next song with phenomenal mixing, which perfectly executes the 103.5 Dawn FM radio station vibe.
Notable Features on The Weeknds New Album
The part everyone’s talking about… the features. The main feature, is of course Jim Carey, taking on the role of the spiritual radio presenter. We also hear features from Tyler the Creator, featuring on ‘Here We Go… Again’, Lil Wayne on ‘I Heard You’re Married’ and Quincy Jones, taking an entire track, ‘A tale by Quincy Jones’.
Jim Carey, an unexpected choice, takes us on a relaxing radio journey from start to finish. He features on the first track ‘Dawn FM’, pops up continuously throughout and finishes the album on ‘Phantom Regret by Jim’ where he speaks of reflecting on your life once you’ve passed away.
‘A Tale by Quincy’ adds insight to the album with the deep spoken word passage about his upbringing and how this went on to affect the rest of his life. He tells us;
‘It bled into my relationships with family
And those I had become romantically involved with
Whenever I got too close to a woman, I would cut her off
Part of that was vindictive and partially based on fear
The features certainly add to the experience and provide differentiation amongst the tracks. Neither the Tyler the Creator nor Lil Wayne features seem hugely hype-worthy, but they add another layer to a deeply intricate artwork. For me personally, I’m still mind-blown over the Jim Carey addition, because it’s so bizarre but so genius. It works so well, and his voice brings the radio vision to life so effortlessly.
Stand Out Song of the Album
The song of the album has to be ‘Less Than Zero’. The heartbreak track begins with synths (obviously), but very quickly offers a brilliant acoustic guitar. The beat is typical of the artist, driving and uplifting, and is accompanied by cheery blissful synths with jolly ascending riffs. However, the lyricism hugely contrasts the instrumentation. If you heard the music alone, I have no doubt you’d succumb to a sway with this easy-going, feel-good track, but the lyrics add much more depth. The message Tesfaye conveys is that he will never be good enough and refers to himself as a negative value as he sings, “I’ll always be less than zero, you tried your best with me I know”. Oof. That one hurts.
In my opinion, this should be the closing track. It feels like the end of a nostalgic feel-good film, yet the context is gut-wrenching, which stirs up a whole host of intense emotions. It would have been a beautiful end to the album.
Dawn FM Overall Review
So… overall thoughts… here goes.
These tracks are undeniably timeless. They capture the commercially successful pop aspects whilst also being experimental and conceptual, accompanied by spiritual thinking, which is no easy feat.
The album is extremely complex and well-thought through, consisting of tracks that are conscientiously crafted around one another, resulting in a cohesive album with a calculated deeper meaning. It is certainly an experience which provides escapism to a degree; however, I believe that the radio notion works against this. Whilst the concept is incredibly unique and executed brilliantly, it can make things feel a little stop-start. The regular talking sections pluck you from the atmospheric haven and launch you straight back to reality… a constant reminder that we are in fact listening to The Weeknds new concept album. I want to love it, but I honestly find it more disruptive than enriching.
I do question how commercial this album will be on the whole. I think there are certain songs which are guaranteed to be huge such as ‘Less Than Zero’, ‘Sacrifice’ and ‘Take My Breath’, which was released last year and are already hits. However, the volume of spoken word and similar sounds detracts from the commercialism of this project. This being said, I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all, if anything, it acts as a breath of fresh air to have an artist writing original and authentic music without an underlying TikTok viral motive, something that is becoming all too common. It’s refreshing to see an artist be so daring and step outside of what is expected for popular music. Let’s be honest, he doesn’t need to conform to any pop norms to be well-received anyway.
Regardless of my small quarrels, I believe this will be the 2022 album to beat. From the intriguing concept to the faultless vocals and the masterful production to the self-reflective lyricism, this release is astounding. It’s not just an album, it’s a cinematic escapade, and a show-stopping one at that.
Stream it here, and let us know your own thoughts.
