Written By: Mike Double G
Grade = 75% or 3.5 ️Stars
Track List - 52 minutes
Dawn FM 1:36
Gasoline 3:32 ️
How Do I Make You Love Me? 3:34 ️
Take My Breath 5:39
Sacrifice 3:09
A Tale By Quincy 1:36
Out of Time 3:34
Here We Go…Again (Feat. Tyler, The Creator) 3:30 ️
Best Friends 2:44 ️
Is There Someone Else? 3:19
Starry Eyes 2:28
Every Angel is Terrifying 2:47
Don’t Break My Heart 3:26
I Heard You’re Married (Feat. Lil Wayne) 4:24
Less Than Zero 3:32
Phantom Regret by Jim 3:00
The Weeknd’s fifth studio album Dawn FM” is a sequel to his fourth LP After Hours. His last album is considered to be his best up to that point. It was met with critical acclaim and led him to performing the half time show for Super Bowl LV. These last two albums have an 80’s sound to them.” After Hours” had an 80’s theme but there was still enough vintage Weeknd so it wasn’t a complete 180. On “Damn FM” he stuck to the same theme and went all in when it came to this 80’s sound. So much so that he The Weeknd doesn’t even sound like himself on a song like Gasoline. His last project had no features and this album only had features from Tyler, The Creator and Lil Wayne.
The sequencing to this project was very good as the tracks flow into each other nicely and make the album feel like a complete body of work. You may not like every song on the album but it’s the kind of project that sounds best with out any skips. There are 16 tracks over 52 minutes but 4 of the tracks are more like interludes. “Dawn FM” is the intro while Phantom Regret by Jim is the outro. Track 5 A Tale By Quincy and track 12 Every Angel is Terrifying are used as interludes. Not counting those 4 tracks there are only a few misses on the remaining 12 songs.
If you liked “After Hours” you will probably like this album. I do not think this project is as good as his last but it’s a solid follow up. I would have liked to see The Weeknd incorporate more rap and R&B into this album like his older projects. This album is his most pop sounding project that sounds like 80’s dance-hall music. It is fun music that will do great in the club. The nightlife and the usage of drugs can be heard through out the album. On “Gasoline” The Weeknd says:
And I love it when you watch me sleep. You spin me 'round so I can breathe. It's only safe for you and me. I know you won't let me OD.
The Weeknd has been talking about his usage of drugs for many years now and this is the kind of music people want to hear when they are partying. Cocaine was huge in the 80’s and many people want to hear this kind of music when they are using substances like coke or MDMA (ecstasy).
Much of the content on this album include love, sex, and relationships. This is obvious by reading the title of many of these songs. “Best Friends” is about two people who are putting up boundaries in there relationship. They have agreed to remain friends but decide to stop having sex. They do this so neither of them catch feelings and end up getting hurt. Is There Someone Else?, is about a man who thinks his girlfriend is cheating is on him. He is suspicious because of her change in behavior. The man knows this because he acted the same when he was cheating. This song was okay but it sounded exactly like you thought it would. The lyrics/song writing on this song could have been better.
One of my favorite songs is I Heard Your Married?. This song is about a man who falls in love with a married woman. This song includes a verse from Lil Wayne and is one of only two songs on this album that includes a feature. The other feature comes from Tyler, The Creator on the song Here We Go…Again. On this song The Weeknd says:
But you’d rather love and lost with tears than never love at all
In Tyler’s verse he says:
Although this love is strong to me. Some things can change, go wrong with me. We don't know how it's gonna be. Forever is too long for me
This song is about a hopeless romantic. The person is getting into a new relationship after being hurt in the last. He or She knows that things are always good in the beginning of a relationship but that they usually end poorly. They know this because it has happen to them so many times before. Being a hopeless romantic they are hoping this time will be different. One of the reasons I like this song is because it is the most rap sounding songs on the album.
This was another good project from The Weeknd. It puts him in the mainstream lane more than ever before. Day one fans who like his traditional stuff may not like this album but it has already been met with critical acclaim. Most of the ratings are even better than his last album but I think over time “After Hours” will be end up being his best body of work. A lot critics tend to live in the moment for better or worse. I also so think Tory Lanez should be getting more credit for his 80’s project Alone At Prom which came out last month. The Weeknd’s project is better but not by much. Overall I’d give this project a final grade of 75% or 3.5 stars compared to “After Hours” which I gave a grade of 82% or four stars.
Best Song = Gasoline
Download: Damn FM
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