Release Date: January 7
Genre: Synthpop / Dance Pop
Dawn FM is the fifth studio album from Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd. This album came out after Abel's biggest hits ever appearing on his last album, After Hours. That album saw his moody brand of R&B getting a neon drenched coating, yet the bigger singles saw him going in a brighter, dancier direction while still keeping their After Hours edge. Of course, the tracks I'm talking about are "Save Your Tears" and "Blinding Lights." These two tracks exploded, skyrocketing The Weeknd into a kind of stardom he had not previously experienced before. Now, we have Dawn FM, an album that fully embraces the 80s-centric dance pop sound he teased towards with those two singles, as well as with the back half of After Hours.
What makes this album especially interesting is its concept. Apparently, Dawn FM is the second part of a trilogy. This time around, the theme is the afterlife, as these songs are played from a fictional radio station before death. It's a fascinating concept. I see the radio station as a form of comatose for our protagonist as he's on his death bed, hearing the music before he fully passes away. Plus, Jim Carrey as the radio host is a stroke of genius. He has a lot of charisma, and he introduces and ends the album very well with the title track and "Phantom Regret by Jim," which is a great poem about self reflection and the soul.
Now, as this is Abel's foray into dance pop, you would expect to get some great bops. And you know what? You do! There are some fantastic tracks on here that you can't help but move to. "Gasoline" has this dark, dramatic instrumental that builds a great mood. I love the use of percussion on this track, and it's cool hearing Abel doing something different with his vocals, as he channels his lower register a lot. "How Do I Make You Love Me?" has a brilliant quiet verse/loud chorus dynamic. The synth hit during the pre-chorus is so sick. This track also has one of the catchiest choruses on the entire album, and the transition from this track into "Take My Breath" is pure magic.
Speaking of which, "Take My Breath" was a track that I thought was okay as a single when it was released last year, but it has really grown on me in the context of the album, especially now that we have the full version. I love that extended intro and how it builds tension until the release of it in the verse, and the extra arpeggiated synth interlude does a great job at creating a cool dystopian atmosphere. Then we have "Sacrifice," which might be my favorite track on the album. The guitar lick that plays throughout the track is fantastic, and it's cool to hear Abel channel his inner Michael Jackson. It's got an incredible groove, and it gets me dancing more than any other track on this album.
From here, we get an interesting change of pace with the "A Tale by Quincy" interlude. This track sees music producer Quincy Jones talk about his upbringing and the trauma he received as a result, causing him to have troubled relationships with his family. It's a powerful and tragic story, and it ties into the themes of troubled relationships, bad behavior and inner turmoil the album has.
Speaking of which, this aspect still remains one of my biggest criticisms with The Weeknd's music in general. A lot of his lyrics are about the same thing. It's a combination of sex, drugs, love, heartbreak and self loathing, as a lot of his songs see him criticizing himself for his continuous admonish behavior or another woman for being unfaithful. The lyrics aren't bad by any means, but by a certain point, it gets tiring of hearing the same things over and over again. It's especially disappointing on this album, as the throughline of the worldbuilding with the radio station. I wish Abel's writing contained a broader range of topics relating to life and death. You get a lot of lyrics on self reflection, but not enough on how they pertain to the end of a life. Sure, that aspect is brought into play thanks to the radio station concept, but the songs themselves lack that connection, causing them to lyrically feel like they not fit together. In a sense, the concept almost feels like an afterthought, which is a shame, because it's a neat concept. I simply wish that it were explored more.
At this point, we start getting more ballads on the album. This chunk of the record starts great with "Out of Time;" a gorgeous, sensual number about second chances with a nice, chilled out groove and a lovely sample of "Midnight Pretenders" by Tomoko Aran. Every time the little flute melody plays, I can't help but swoon. However, after this song, we get a pretty sizeable lull in the tracklist. "Here We Go... Again" sounds nice and the Tyler feature is cool, but the melody, the production and the vocal writing all sound rather empty. It lacks percussion, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the notes the synth plays don't grab my attention, and vocally, Abel sounds like he's trying to force some of his older singing styles into this glossy 80s instrumental. It sounds fine on other track,, but here, it feels awkward. Besides that, it's a fine enough song.
Unfortunately, the quality of the album starts to drop off a little here. "Best Friends" sounds like it's unfinished, with its chorus taking up more than half of the actual song. The bass is way too thick and the percussion sounds out of place for this kind of melody. "Is There Someone Else?" has a good vibe, but for me, it doesn't offer much beyond that. "Starry Eyes" is a nice sister song to that album, as the transition from "Is There Someone Else?" into this is seamless, and the ambiance is good, but I wish the track went somewhere. It promises a build at the start, but it never really capitalizes on it.
From here, we get "Every Angel is Terrifying," which is an interlude acting as a radio advertisement for "After Life." I get that it's a joke and trying to be funny, but outside of the line "Critics say 'After Life' makes your current life look like a comatose snoozefest," the humor is quickly lost, as the song becomes very hokey. "Don't Break My Heart" is yet another song with a great vibe that gets lost on me, and "I Heard Your Married," well... this song is an interesting one. I think it has one of the stickiest and most intoxicating grooves of the entire album, as well as some of Abel's strongest writing and vocals on the entire album. This is one of those instances where the feature ruins the song, because Lil Wayne straight up sucks on this track. His flow sounds inappropriate for the 80s synth funk sound the track is going for, and he has some truly terrible bars. My "favorite" has to be "I bet he treats you like Virgin Mary / You like it dirty and I'm Dirty Harry." It's pretty embarrassing. The song itself is solid, but the Lil Wayne is trash.
Luckily, the album ends on a note that's just as strong as it's beginning. "Less Than Zero" is the perfect penultimate track for this album. It's groovy yet beautiful, with some of Abel's most soulful and intimate singing and lyrics yet. I love the little synth arpeggios leading into the chorus and how it explodes with Abel's first "'Cause I." It's so good, and that chorus is as killer as it is anthemic. As far as the ballads on this project goes, this one is easily my favorite. And it leads into the fantastic closer "Phantom Regret by Jim;" a chilling spoken word piece from Jim Carrey over an atmospheric synth melody. It's beautiful, and the lyrics on self reflection tie the themes of the album together quite well. It's a nice way to end this album.
Overall, I liked this album quite a bit. It's cool hearing Abel fully embrace the 80s dance pop sound he was teasing towards the past couple of years. The production is great, the songwriting is solid and Abel's vocals are as good as ever. There are some fantastic bops and some fantastic ballads. There are a few duds in the second half of the album, and I do wish the theme of death played a bigger role in the lyrics instead of mostly self reflection and relationships, but I still found the concept to be gripping and served the sound of the album well. This is a really damn good synth pop album, and I highly recommend it to anyone; Weeknd fan or no. It's certainly not perfect, and I think I still prefer After Hours, but this is not that far behind. Check it out if you haven't already.
Fav Tracks: Gasoline; How Do I Make You Love Me?; Take My Breath; Sacrifice; Out of Time; Less Than Zero; Phantom Regret by Jim
Worst Track: Best Friends
Grade: B
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