The Weeknd's Sonic Evolution: From After Hours to Dawn FM and Hurry Up Tomorrow
By Kaleb Smith
After Hours, Dawn FM, and Hurry up Tomorrow, three albums that not only show the growth of “The Weeknd”, but are prime examples of music in the modern age. From the storytelling, to the musical concepts, this trilogy is going to be remembered forever.
Abel Tesfaye or “The Weeknd” is an artist who has been dominating the scene since about a decade ago, with his release of Beauty Behind the Madness. The Weeknd isn’t a name that the general public would recognize, but to the younger generation he is considered to be one of the best artists.
Since his debut in 2013, The Weeknd has become the number one artist on streaming platforms such as Spotify, where he currently has 25 songs with more than one billion streams. Even household names such as Drake, Bruno Mars, and Taylor Swift have not surpassed The Weeknd’s numbers.
After Hours was released in 2020 as the world went on lock-down due to COVID and was The Weeknd’s first full length album in four years which was unusual for him. This long break would seem highly successful. As some say, it’s his magnum opus. Songs from the album such as “Blinding Lights”, “Save your Tears”, and the title track “After Hours” all have surpassed one billion streams.
“You can find love, fear, friends, enemies, violence, dancing, sex, demons, angels, loneliness, and togetherness all in the After Hours of the night” The Weeknd said. This quote perfectly encapsulates what this album is about, with the album having ominous, dark, and “alone-with- your-thoughts" type emotions. With the music videos and some lyrics, the album's soundscape is inspired by Las Vegas.
After Hours also pulls from horror with certain music videos like the song “In your Eyes”, which sees The Weeknd acting like a slasher villain, pulling inspiration from movies such as Halloween.
In 2022 The Weeknd surprised the world with Dawn FM, his second album in the trilogy and his fifth studio album. This album came out less than two years later after After Hours and was a complete 180° in sound and visuals. Before the album was released, the Weeknd tweeted that this album was music he has always wanted to make, which was a hint into how different this album was going to be.
Dawn FM takes the listener to a world that is between life and death, purgatory as some would call it. In this world Dawn FM is the radio station that you listen to as you transition from life into death with none other than Jim Carrey as the DJ.
Dawn FM continues the story from After Hours, where the “protagonist” died after the last track, and is now in purgatory. This album has themes of regret, letting go, and accepting who you are. Overall, this album is heavy on existential thoughts, and to accompany these ideas, is a full tracklist of 80’s synth pop, dance-pop, edm, and R&B among others. A Track like “How do I Make You Love Me” is an upbeat EDM-inspired club head banger, where another track “Gasoline” sounds as if The Weeknd was singing straight out of an 80’s nightclub with his deep voice verses and catchy chorus.
Throughout the album at the end of songs, Jim Carrey, the narrator or DJ of the radio station guides the listener along, helping them “Into the light”. The final track is a three minute monologue by Jim Carrey exploring the themes of the album one last time, “How many grudges did you take to your grave?” and “ If your broken heart’s heavy when you step on the scale, you’ll be lighter than air when they pull back the veil”.
Lastly, Hurry Up Tomorrow was released in 2025 as the last album in this trilogy. Because the album has not been out as long as the others, a lot of the material is yet to be released, such as a movie that The Weeknd is producing, and starring in under the same name.
This album is The Weeknd’s last album under his stage name, and the ideas and themes of this one follow that, with rebirth, redemption and ultimately freedom at the center of this experience. Hurry Up Tomorrow isn’t as conceptual as the previous two albums, but more of a last hoorah for The Weeknd, spanning 22 songs and each one an example of how The Weeknd has mastered his craft.
The story still continues as the “protagonist” from the previous two albums has shed his skin as The Weeknd and has been reborn as a child, pure and innocent the opposite of what The Weeknd is known for. Certain songs see The Weeknd being more personal and upfront than we have ever seen him before, such as “Baptized in Fear” and the title track “Hurry Up Tomorrow”. The title track explores themes of a higher power, and wanting to be done with the pain and torment he has faced through his life.
Hurry up Tomorrow is still in its infancy as an album and era, which means there is plenty more to come. A popular theory online is that these three albums follow Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy with Hell being After Hours, Purgatory being Dawn FM, and Paradise being Hurry Up Tomorrow. While not confirmed, The Weeknd has teased that this may be true.
The Weeknd may be ending as a character and artist but he leaves behind a truly impressive and great discography. He will be remembered as one of the best and most successful artists of all time.
By Kaleb Smith
After Hours, Dawn FM, and Hurry up Tomorrow, three albums that not only show the growth of “The Weeknd”, but are prime examples of music in the modern age. From the storytelling, to the musical concepts, this trilogy is going to be remembered forever.
Abel Tesfaye or “The Weeknd” is an artist who has been dominating the scene since about a decade ago, with his release of Beauty Behind the Madness. The Weeknd isn’t a name that the general public would recognize, but to the younger generation he is considered to be one of the best artists.
Since his debut in 2013, The Weeknd has become the number one artist on streaming platforms such as Spotify, where he currently has 25 songs with more than one billion streams. Even household names such as Drake, Bruno Mars, and Taylor Swift have not surpassed The Weeknd’s numbers.
After Hours was released in 2020 as the world went on lock-down due to COVID and was The Weeknd’s first full length album in four years which was unusual for him. This long break would seem highly successful. As some say, it’s his magnum opus. Songs from the album such as “Blinding Lights”, “Save your Tears”, and the title track “After Hours” all have surpassed one billion streams.
“You can find love, fear, friends, enemies, violence, dancing, sex, demons, angels, loneliness, and togetherness all in the After Hours of the night” The Weeknd said. This quote perfectly encapsulates what this album is about, with the album having ominous, dark, and “alone-with- your-thoughts" type emotions. With the music videos and some lyrics, the album's soundscape is inspired by Las Vegas.
After Hours also pulls from horror with certain music videos like the song “In your Eyes”, which sees The Weeknd acting like a slasher villain, pulling inspiration from movies such as Halloween.
In 2022 The Weeknd surprised the world with Dawn FM, his second album in the trilogy and his fifth studio album. This album came out less than two years later after After Hours and was a complete 180° in sound and visuals. Before the album was released, the Weeknd tweeted that this album was music he has always wanted to make, which was a hint into how different this album was going to be.
Dawn FM takes the listener to a world that is between life and death, purgatory as some would call it. In this world Dawn FM is the radio station that you listen to as you transition from life into death with none other than Jim Carrey as the DJ.
Dawn FM continues the story from After Hours, where the “protagonist” died after the last track, and is now in purgatory. This album has themes of regret, letting go, and accepting who you are. Overall, this album is heavy on existential thoughts, and to accompany these ideas, is a full tracklist of 80’s synth pop, dance-pop, edm, and R&B among others. A Track like “How do I Make You Love Me” is an upbeat EDM-inspired club head banger, where another track “Gasoline” sounds as if The Weeknd was singing straight out of an 80’s nightclub with his deep voice verses and catchy chorus.
Throughout the album at the end of songs, Jim Carrey, the narrator or DJ of the radio station guides the listener along, helping them “Into the light”. The final track is a three minute monologue by Jim Carrey exploring the themes of the album one last time, “How many grudges did you take to your grave?” and “ If your broken heart’s heavy when you step on the scale, you’ll be lighter than air when they pull back the veil”.
Lastly, Hurry Up Tomorrow was released in 2025 as the last album in this trilogy. Because the album has not been out as long as the others, a lot of the material is yet to be released, such as a movie that The Weeknd is producing, and starring in under the same name.
This album is The Weeknd’s last album under his stage name, and the ideas and themes of this one follow that, with rebirth, redemption and ultimately freedom at the center of this experience. Hurry Up Tomorrow isn’t as conceptual as the previous two albums, but more of a last hoorah for The Weeknd, spanning 22 songs and each one an example of how The Weeknd has mastered his craft.
The story still continues as the “protagonist” from the previous two albums has shed his skin as The Weeknd and has been reborn as a child, pure and innocent the opposite of what The Weeknd is known for. Certain songs see The Weeknd being more personal and upfront than we have ever seen him before, such as “Baptized in Fear” and the title track “Hurry Up Tomorrow”. The title track explores themes of a higher power, and wanting to be done with the pain and torment he has faced through his life.
Hurry up Tomorrow is still in its infancy as an album and era, which means there is plenty more to come. A popular theory online is that these three albums follow Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy with Hell being After Hours, Purgatory being Dawn FM, and Paradise being Hurry Up Tomorrow. While not confirmed, The Weeknd has teased that this may be true.
The Weeknd may be ending as a character and artist but he leaves behind a truly impressive and great discography. He will be remembered as one of the best and most successful artists of all time.
Elvis: That’s the Way It Is: A Retrospective that keeps The King’s Title
By Galen Dermott
On November 11th, 1970, A film was released with Elvis Presley as the star, which might be confusing. If you know his acting career, Elvis was not very well recognized for his non-singing ability. Starring in 31 films of cheesy romantics, dramas, and comedies, he was never a serious actor, unlike his other singing counterparts, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. However, between the years of 1970 and 1972, Elvis released two concert films (Elvis: On Tour) and Elvis: That’s the Way It Is.
To coordinate with the documentary’s release, the album Elvis: That’s the Way It Is. Which consisted of eight studio tracks recorded at the famous RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee, and four live-in tracks recorded at the then International Hotel (Westgate). Even though it was considered a soundtrack album, the album peaked at #21 on the Billboard 200 and #8 on the country chart. It was certified Gold on June 28, 1973, and upgraded to Platinum on March 8, 2018, for selling a million copies.
Two-time Academy Award winning director Denis Sanders (Best Short Subject, A Time Out of War) was behind the 35mm film distributed by MGM The original concept was devised by technical advisor and longtime manager Colonel Tom Parker who wanted it as a closed circuit television presentation on one show which it would eventually turn into the first and largest live concert by a solo artist (1.5 Billion People) via satellite 1973’s Aloha from Hawaii. The team wanted the film to be exciting and important to Presley’s career as he made his triumphant return to live performances.
The songs and footage were from different dinner and late-night shows between July and September of 1970. The film featured a personal look into how Elvis gets ready for performances and hangs out with friends and other mates, band TCB (Taking Care of Business), The Imperials, and The Sweet Inspirations. The film had a budget of roughly $2 million. It grossed roughly under a million dollars across nine U.S. Cities, Toronto, Canada, and Japan. Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "a carefully managed concert designed to promote his future engagements in Nevada." He noted that "fans will be enthralled as Presley sings more than a dozen of his hits" but that "persons hoping to learn about the man after hours will be disappointed."
In 2001, a new version of the film was edited and produced by award-winning producer Rick Schmidlin. In favor of including more footage of Elvis practicing and performing live, the updated version removed a large portion of the original's documentary and non-Elvis content.
The final version of the movie is 12 minutes shorter than the original, but it has more music. Some of the performances from the original movie are missing, most notably the "I Just Can't Help Believin'" concert performance. Despite this, the new version of the movie shows Presley practicing the song and worrying about remembering the lyrics on stage. This new edition of That’s the Way It Is was released on January 19, 2001, when it made its worldwide debut on the cable channel Turner Classic Movie,s where it was the most watched film ever for the cable service and was seen by over 95% of its audience.
Two more versions of the concert movie were released, one in August of 2007, a two-disc special edition of modernized sound and thirty-five minutes of bonus footage not included in either version, the other also in August 2014 of a premium Digibook.
Before we close this retrospective of the King doing his best work, an announcement was made in January of this year two-time Oscar nominated director Baz Lurhman (Moulin Rouge!, Elvis) teased an announcement on Twitter/X about finding lost footage of his tour films (That’s the Way It Is, On Tour). He also told Deadline, “During the making of Elvis, from very early on in my process, I had the privilege to access the studio’s vaults deep in the salt mines of Kansas, where troves of old film negatives are stored. We were astonished by the sheer volume of unused footage from Elvis: That’s the Way It Is, Elvis on Tour. Equally exciting was rare behind-the-scenes audio that had been feared lost, especially some fascinating recordings of Elvis telling stories from his own life in his own words." So he decided to keep the Elvis craze going and create a special Docu Feature with help from his studio, Bazmark, and team Authentic Studios are producing and will be distributed sometime later this year by Sony Music Vision in partnership with Legacy Recordings.
Elvis Presley who was so worried about “being forgotten” or not “having amounted to nothing” is still a cultural icon and a music entity being loved and remembered by fans almost fifty years after his premature death and will probably be continued to be remembered for a thousand more.
By Galen Dermott
On November 11th, 1970, A film was released with Elvis Presley as the star, which might be confusing. If you know his acting career, Elvis was not very well recognized for his non-singing ability. Starring in 31 films of cheesy romantics, dramas, and comedies, he was never a serious actor, unlike his other singing counterparts, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. However, between the years of 1970 and 1972, Elvis released two concert films (Elvis: On Tour) and Elvis: That’s the Way It Is.
To coordinate with the documentary’s release, the album Elvis: That’s the Way It Is. Which consisted of eight studio tracks recorded at the famous RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee, and four live-in tracks recorded at the then International Hotel (Westgate). Even though it was considered a soundtrack album, the album peaked at #21 on the Billboard 200 and #8 on the country chart. It was certified Gold on June 28, 1973, and upgraded to Platinum on March 8, 2018, for selling a million copies.
Two-time Academy Award winning director Denis Sanders (Best Short Subject, A Time Out of War) was behind the 35mm film distributed by MGM The original concept was devised by technical advisor and longtime manager Colonel Tom Parker who wanted it as a closed circuit television presentation on one show which it would eventually turn into the first and largest live concert by a solo artist (1.5 Billion People) via satellite 1973’s Aloha from Hawaii. The team wanted the film to be exciting and important to Presley’s career as he made his triumphant return to live performances.
The songs and footage were from different dinner and late-night shows between July and September of 1970. The film featured a personal look into how Elvis gets ready for performances and hangs out with friends and other mates, band TCB (Taking Care of Business), The Imperials, and The Sweet Inspirations. The film had a budget of roughly $2 million. It grossed roughly under a million dollars across nine U.S. Cities, Toronto, Canada, and Japan. Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "a carefully managed concert designed to promote his future engagements in Nevada." He noted that "fans will be enthralled as Presley sings more than a dozen of his hits" but that "persons hoping to learn about the man after hours will be disappointed."
In 2001, a new version of the film was edited and produced by award-winning producer Rick Schmidlin. In favor of including more footage of Elvis practicing and performing live, the updated version removed a large portion of the original's documentary and non-Elvis content.
The final version of the movie is 12 minutes shorter than the original, but it has more music. Some of the performances from the original movie are missing, most notably the "I Just Can't Help Believin'" concert performance. Despite this, the new version of the movie shows Presley practicing the song and worrying about remembering the lyrics on stage. This new edition of That’s the Way It Is was released on January 19, 2001, when it made its worldwide debut on the cable channel Turner Classic Movie,s where it was the most watched film ever for the cable service and was seen by over 95% of its audience.
Two more versions of the concert movie were released, one in August of 2007, a two-disc special edition of modernized sound and thirty-five minutes of bonus footage not included in either version, the other also in August 2014 of a premium Digibook.
Before we close this retrospective of the King doing his best work, an announcement was made in January of this year two-time Oscar nominated director Baz Lurhman (Moulin Rouge!, Elvis) teased an announcement on Twitter/X about finding lost footage of his tour films (That’s the Way It Is, On Tour). He also told Deadline, “During the making of Elvis, from very early on in my process, I had the privilege to access the studio’s vaults deep in the salt mines of Kansas, where troves of old film negatives are stored. We were astonished by the sheer volume of unused footage from Elvis: That’s the Way It Is, Elvis on Tour. Equally exciting was rare behind-the-scenes audio that had been feared lost, especially some fascinating recordings of Elvis telling stories from his own life in his own words." So he decided to keep the Elvis craze going and create a special Docu Feature with help from his studio, Bazmark, and team Authentic Studios are producing and will be distributed sometime later this year by Sony Music Vision in partnership with Legacy Recordings.
Elvis Presley who was so worried about “being forgotten” or not “having amounted to nothing” is still a cultural icon and a music entity being loved and remembered by fans almost fifty years after his premature death and will probably be continued to be remembered for a thousand more.