Album Review: The Weeknd – HURRY UP TOMORROW

3 years ago…. The Weeknd released Dawn FM and to the surprise of myself, it ended up being my favorite album of 2022, and this was released in the first week of January. Yeah, in the dead of January aka the month where studios dump movies they have no faith in (although sometimes, that’s not entirely the case).  Anyway, The Weeknd has been doing excellent with his 2020s output with both After Hours and Dawn FM. He’s beginning to explore more of his artistic side, and I’m liking that.

However, there was a bump on the road… and that bump is The Idol. Yeah, remember that show? That HBO show helmed by him and the creator of Euphoria? Everybody’s favorite (or not) show they wouldn’t shut up or stop bitching about? Yeah, it had hype but damn, it was… OK it wasn’t the worst thing I saw like most people have been saying, but it wasn’t good. The music was decent but that show didn’t last that long; it was only a season.

Fast-forward to late 2024, and there’s been some announcements regarding his upcoming album,the final one of the trilogy he set up with the previous 2 albums, as well as the last one where he uses The Weeknd moniker. There were 3 singles released at that time frame with “Timeless“, “São Paulo“, and “Dancing In The Flames.” Unfortunately for the latter, it wasn’t included in the album, but to be fair it was one of the weakest cuts. As far as the other singles, “Timeless” with Playboi Carti felt more like a song made for him, but it was done better when The Weeknd did his verse; and “Sao Paulo” was the most interesting song with the weirdest production, as well as the music video… which is a choice. OK, I remember on Dawn FM, I wasn’t too high on the singles and yet I ended up loving the album anyway, so who knows? It might be one of those projects where I love the deep cuts more, and I tend to like that.

Now, it’s time to tune in to the album, and the first thing I noticed is that… IT’S 85 MINUTES!!! So about 20-30 minutes longer than the two previous albums and 22 tracks in total (20 with 2 short interludes, or if you want to count the deluxe edition, 24 tracks, but I’m covering the regular edition so there you go).

Now the question is…. how is the album?

Well, you know in every movie trilogy, you have the one that started it all, the next one that gets better and more weirder and the third one which… well, having given this album a few full listens, I can safely say that while we have another good Weeknd album… I don’t think it’s the best out of the 3. But let’s examine before we get too deep.

The album opens very strong with “Wake Me Up”,  starting off with a slow, ominous build and then it turns into a MJ-stylized pop/disco jam. It almost reminds me of what I heard in the last Justice album. Lo and behold, they were the feature on the track and co-produced it alongside The Weekend, Johnny Jewel (yes, that one), and Mike Dean. The track has the immense vibe of a feature film opening, and considering the album has an upcoming movie of the same name, it fits. Onto the next track, “Cry For Me” was released as the third single and easily a stand-out of the album with its distorted synths and drums as it goes into a trap-infused outro which is easily the most mesmerizing part of the song. Credit for that goes to the one and only Metro Boomin’ as that beat goes hard whenever it drops. The transitions on this gets hectic as before it leads into “Sao Paulo”, there’s a short snippet of his voice giving out, saying that he can’t sing and that leads into the next track.

And I hope you cry for me like I cry for you
Every night for you, take it easy on me, baby
‘Cause I tried with you, saw my life with you
End of time with you, now we’re strangers
And I hope that you still cry for me like I cry for you

I admit I was worried that the production was going to be toned down a little mainly due to what I heard from the singles. However, it seems like we still have his usual collaborators from previous projects, with producers like Max Martin, Mike Dean, Pharrell Williams, and of course, Oneohtrix Point Never. I mentioned Justice and Johnny Jewel earlier, but there are some more surprises up their sleeve. “Baptized in Fear” has him being overwhelmed by guilt and explores that fear consuming you.  “Open Hearts” has that glossy, cleaned-up Max Martin style of production with the synthy breakdown, and it explores dealing with heartbreak and learning to love again.

In fact, most of the themes are the same kinds of topics he explored in previous albums but slightly different; it’s often doing that on other genres and it also includes existentialism, death, rebirth & redemption. There’s also speculation of what the albums in the trilogy represent: After Hours being Hell, Dawn FM being purgatory, and of course this one being paradise.

Next up, “Reflections Laughing” deals with the bittersweet side of fame along with vulnerability and self-reflection and we also have a pair of features that you never thought would happen: Travis Scott and Florence & the Machine, although Florence handles the chorus while Travis gets a verse. There’s a break in the song with a message of someone worrying over Abel’s mental state. More heartbreak talk continues with “Enjoy The Show,” and this is one R&B crooning song with some hauntingly eerie production talking about how they deal with those emotions… and by that, I mean drugs. Oh, speaking of crooning, Future does his thing, and look, I may not be much of a fan of his, but I have begun to understand his appeal when it comes to stuff like this. That does continue on “Given Up On Me”, which has a nice usage of the sample “On The Way” by Chicago Gangsters on the interlude in the 2nd part of the song.

But nothing beats one of the best sounding songs of the album: “I Can’t Wait to Get There.” It’s him getting personal with himself on this angelic and soulful production that sounds like something you would’ve heard from either Thundercat, Silk Sonic, Tyler, or all three of them. This song and most of the production so far really has me hooked on this… and then I realized at that point, I’m halfway into this album… and I started to feel the length.

Dear summer, we’ve been runnin’ the numbers
We just shy off a billi’, sold my crib to Madonna
Might connect to my fathеr, I don’t know that nigga
Tryna end all my dramas, tryna clean up my closet
‘Causе the media hate it when they can never control us
And my enemies hate it ’cause I own my soul

And they try to fuckin’ kill me, spreadin’ misinformation
Tryna paint me a villain
Guess I did it to myself, man, this business life pimping
Who can tell me the difference?
Dealt with scarier situations, I had nowhere to live in
High school dropout, chillin’ with academics

So yeah, the more I play some of the other tracks on repeat, the more I’m starting to think that “Timeless” might be the worst song on here, and I wasn’t as hot or cold on that song the first time I listened to it. It could be that Pharrell’s production didn’t exactly wow me or that Playboi Carti’s verse was also nothing special. Again, it felt like his song with the Weeknd as a feature, and the feature does it better than he does!

Then we got some tracks that were just fine, like “Niagara Falls” that had a good beat going for it and surprisingly it had additional vocals from Jon B… yeah, that Jon B. – that one white R&B singer during the ’90s. “Take me Back to LA” seems to be a callback on the song “Escape from L.A.” on After Hours, and this one also seems to be originally intended for After Hours, but it didn’t make the cut. He did perform it during the After Hours Til Dawn tour, and this was cool, too. However, another song that was performed on the tour made it here with “Big Sleep” (his collaboration with the legendary Giorgio Moroder), and we’re back to interesting territory, as this samples the theme of Midnight Express and almost gives me Scarface vibes (yes, I know he did the music to that as well). And that vocoder sound? It’s just gorgeous to hear, and you know what else is gorgeous to hear? The next track “Give Me Mercy” with its heavenly and melodic production, as well as the themes of the song being about personal struggles with religion. That’s another highlight of the album for me personally.

“Drive” started to grow on me after the first few listens; “The Abyss” pairs him up again with Lana Del Rey and aesthetically, it sounds great; “Red Terror” definitely has that horror vibe within the production but the song showcases something like a distant parental relationship, saying that he’ll return to them and they never loses touch. “Without a Warning” is fine, and the last track (the title track) was originally going to be “Heaven,” as the song interpolates “In Heaven (Lady In The Radiator Song)” by the late David Lynch from the movie Eraserhead. This immediately feels like a fitting closer track to an album like this (and yes, I’m saying this is the closing track – again, I’m doing the regular edition of this!). Anyway, the song is about his past, growing up and dealing with hardships with his parents or wondering how life can get good again.

But now I’m drownin’ in the same tub where I learned how to swim
With my mother trying to save every ounce of my innocence
I failed her like I failed myself, I’m sorry (Yeah)
Mama, I’m sorry, oh, yeah

And I hope that I’ll find what I’m looking for
I hope that He’s watching from up above
I’m done with the lies, I’m done with the loss
I hope this confession is enough

I have to say, going through this album, it has its pros and cons, and while I did like this album, I’m listing the cons first from the length, which I do understand  with the themes and all. But there are times I wondered how much longer we had to get to the last few tracks on here. Maybe it’s a good thing I just stuck with the regular edition after all. The majority of the songs I truly liked and I loved that it began with a bang, and it kept on going and going and going… until we got to the latter half. There were some songs that should’ve been cut, especially “Timeless.” Overall, this is still a great album. It might surpass After Hours for me but I still feel like Dawn FM is his best work, and it has been fascinating how The Weeknd crafted his career throughout the 2010s and the early 2020s. Yeah, this is his last record under that moniker, but I’m willing to see what he’ll do next in the next chapter of his career.

FINAL VERDICT: BUY IT. It’s good but this is one where you don’t need to hurry on. Take your time with this one.

HURRY UP TOMORROW is on XO/Republic Records and is available on CD, vinyl, digital download and streaming services. Also, the film extension of the album is in theaters May 16, 2025.