Sunrise FM

 

The case of The Weeknd is interesting. In his skyrocketing rise to superstardom, the (still) young musician has nevertheless always displayed a fairly personal way of doing things rather than necessarily following the trends of the day. That his personal taste happens to mesh with the spirit of music circa 2022 is to some extent lucky: there is a feeling that he would have still been making his music, even without being onstage at the Superbowl… Another interesting characteristic of The Weeknd’s work is a sophisticated blend of old and new, with obvious 1970’s and 1980’s references (especially the latter), albeit with a mix of highly contemporary electronic arrangements and beats. All in all, his sound may be very well be the sound of the era, although he would very much be the initiator of it all…

Dawn FM largely confirms the assumptions made above. Released last Friday after a mere few days of waiting (thank you modern release schedules…), the album hasn’t even been featured on the charts yet. But, given the sheer profile of the artist behind it, his always interesting way of packaging his art — this time around, he’s not shown bruised and bandaged on the cover, but… old — not to mention his intrinsically appealing tunes all make for a sure hit. And, upon listen, we tend to agree: this fifth album clearly builds on The Weeknd’s past efforts, albeit going even further.

Further in acknowledging his references, for one: the fact that Quincy Jones can be heard speaking on track #6 is perfectly symbolic of the cultural mix our Canadian friend is trying to create here. Indeed, his current output may be the most Jackson-inspired, after perhaps Christine and the Queens (and that’s saying something). Take recent single “Sacrifice” or the groovy, Lil Wayne featuring “I Heard You’re Married” and you’ll know what we’re talking about. More generally, this album’s production is a more than obvious nod to 1980’s work — like quite a few other artists these days, to be fair —, most evidently in the way drum and bass parts are being engineered. You would be remiss if you occasionally thought these were samples: the only sign that they are not is the crispy clear sound quality…

The other distinct quality of this album is the subtlety of the electronic feel that is being added to the mix. We mentioned the Quincy track above: if you don’t see that other reference to Daft Punk dedicating a track to a speaking Giorgio Moroder in their now final album Random Access Memories, you’re missing something. As it happens, several tracks on this album are inspired by the likes of Daft Punk, Kavinsky (listen to “Take My Breath” and “Nightcall” simultaneously and you’ll hear it) or Justice… In other words, many “French touch” electro-pop star craftsmen. Which in itself stands as a compliment: Daft Punk are true (were) true masters at work…

There you have it: The Weeknd’s latest is a very well produced and delivered piece of retro-futuristic electro-pop. Better listen to it than hear about it though… Get going!