‘After Hours’ and the Many Façades of Lyrical Genius - Abel Tesfaye
- Apr 22, 2020
- 12 min read
Album of the year right here, folks.
To be absolutely candid, I was never too much of a fan of The Weeknd. I found his music particularly shallow with a lack of cohesion within albums. However, for some reason, I could never find myself straying away from giving his albums at least a single listen. His perpetually enigmatic persona always lures me to try and put a finger on what kind of an artist he can truly be categorised as. A face that generally strays away from the media that always seems to top all the charts - it’s particularly obscure, enticing me to try and ascertain what exactly ‘The Weeknd’ represents.
Abel has always been one of the industry’s greatest talking points: an emotional enigma, always propagating his inherent R&B lothario which first emerged from the melancholic fuck-boy swagger of ‘House of Balloons’ along with the rest of ‘Trilogy’. Whether its encompassing loneliness heals your worry and fear, or mirrors it, or amplifies it – this is a sound that can’t help but feel in line with the way we live now. With the streets deserted and humanity isolated, ‘After Hours’ could NOT have come at a better time. It arguably serves as a saving grace to humanity - to help us feel like we aren’t alone in our loneliness. Through this extended narrative, it feels as though we all have entered The Weeknd’s dark, wicked, harrowing world.
Before establishing a review on this album, we must place it under direct contrast with its predecessors. The last full-length released by Abel was the record-shattering ‘Starboy’, before which was ‘Beauty Behind the Madness’. The general theme of ‘Starboy’ is self-explanatory: it revolves around Abel’s nonchalant vibe of life, circumscribed within the ecstasy of his suddenly newfound fame. Both these albums have the typical dark R&B theme coupled with a few chart-toppers for the sake of publicity and reaching out to a broader audience. Perhaps this was needed for him to socially explode the way he has; however, this means that the two albums lacked severely in one indispensable element: cohesion.
Individually, there are some great tracks on both the albums. However, the general concept, in essence, is particularly shallow. Abel rambles on about his first-world frustrations regarding unfulfilling sex and relationships, with only a modicum of personal insight. He drops obscure lyrics that could have been tied up nicely for cohesive tracks; nevertheless, this interweaving talent only comes with experience. His songs would either be overly lachrymose or terribly shallow to appeal to the masses. This is where ‘After Hours’ comes in as a saving grace: it serves as the perfect middle ground with immaculate coherence. In this album, everything fits perfectly into the narrative that Abel has fabricated for himself. It is essentially the first time Abel has produced a wonderfully interwoven complete piece that makes perfect sense, rather than something rather frustratingly obscure.
‘After Hours’ is essentially a revamped delineation of all of Abel’s many past personas amalgamated into one cohesive album. Abel presents himself to have a multi-faceted personality - accentuating this raw, inherent trait of humanity in general. He bravely touches upon the fact that humans are not perfect, showing his audience that even the most loved faces on television possess their own flaws and transgressions – that the constant romanticism of their lives in mass media renders highly toxic for them. However, the one element that sets Abel apart from his musical counterparts is the fact that he owns up to his vices and speaks about them as just mere facets of his personality which he can’t seem to rid himself of. A critical point to be noted with this album is that, unlike on his previous ventures, there isn’t a single guest feature on the album. This album is wholeheartedly Abel’s rawest emotions - his most personal work. It delves deep into the abyss of the international celebrity's obscure mind – one that had been riddled with substance abuse, parental abandonment, unfulfilled sexual desires and much more.
‘Alone Again’:
The album kick-starts with this woeful, heavily polished introduction full of a poignant set of lyrics.
“Take off my disguise. I’m living someone else’s life, suppressing who I was inside”
“Oh, how much to light up my stars again, and rewire all my thoughts?”
These lyrics set up the bleak and eerie mood of the album, which is further accentuated as the song progresses. Evidently, Abel here is talking about the fatigued star-studded life he leads – almost a double life. He symbolises the ‘disguise’ as the persona he must appear to embody in front of the media. This can be somewhat construed as a doleful soliloquy, as Abel laments over the death of his individuality, for he has succumbed to the toxic life granted to him by his celebrity status.
‘Too Late’:
I don’t want to talk too much about this song other than the fact that this is an abrupt, yet smooth transition from the harrowing Alone Again. This is a fast-paced verse with a futuristic mood.
One line, in particular, has stood out to me from this song:
“We’re in Hell – it’s disguised as paradise in flashing lights. I just wanna believe there’s so much more”
This is Abel’s first explicit reference to the recurring ‘lights’ in this album. Throughout this album, Abel used ‘lights’ and the city of Los Angeles as symbolic of his stardom. This is the city where Abel is driven into a state of drug-ridden madness to merely cope up with his newly fast-paced life. Although, by face value, Los Angeles is perceived as a wilding city for upcoming artists, Abel feels like it is “Hell”.
This, personally, is my favourite song in the album. To put it simply: it’s beautiful. This song is a near-perfectly orchestrated self-critical ballad where we see Abel absolutely vulnerable, taking full responsibility of his many transgressions pertaining to his past relationships. This song is essentially the face of the remorseful theme of the entire album. Abel apologises to his previous lovers for the mistakes he made and for not being able to preserve the relationship.
Essentially, by asking his former lovers to not be “scared to live again”, he is peacefully asking for closure from the relationship and asking her to move on. He is owning up to all that went wrong and truly wishes to see his ex-partner be happy with someone else.
The vocal range in this song: simply euphonic.
‘Snowchild’:
This song must have been a real heart-warmer to the OG Trilogy fans. Here, we see the original Weeknd sound revived after years with this rather monotonous verse. We don’t see much of a vocal range since that isn’t the purpose of this song.
In this song, we see The Weeknd cleverly juxtaposing his former style of composition with his current mindset and lifestyle. He calls upon his old vices, such as drowning his sorrows in rampant drug abuse (namely, cocaine).
One particularly note-worthy line in this song is:
“Cali was the mission but now a n*igga leaving”
This is a direct reference to his song ‘The Morning’ from 'House of Balloons' back in 2011, where he says “Cali is the mission: visit every month like I’m split life living”. Through these lyrics, The Weeknd strongly and directly propagates the idea that he is not the man that he used to be – that his aspirations in his youth were naïve and he could not have imagined his life to spiral into the descent to madness as it has over the years. This demarcates a period of realisation and maturity in his character – showing the public that Abel now has a fresh perspective and grip over his life.
‘Heartless’:
The Weeknd is finally back with an absolute Starboy-esque banger, elucidating his inherently consistent identity crisis. In the opening lines, we see Abel directly flipping his lines from ‘Snowchild’ of “She never need a man, she what a man need” to the vehement and rather derogatory “Never need a bitch, I’m what a bitch needs”.
This song sticks out from the rest of the album because, here, Abel abruptly ditches the pervading theme of guilt and remorse for a bit. He uses disturbing imagery in the music video of licking a frog to symbolise the drugs that have pretty much encompassed him, and he rambles on about his fame and fortune – being able to acquire any girl he wants and treat her however he wants to.
Sounds pretty wack till now, right? Hypocritical, maybe?
The bridge is a wholly different story.
The song suddenly transitions into a melancholic chant with lines such as:
“You just came back in my life
You never gave up on me
I’ll never see what you see
I don’t do well when alone"
This line perfectly encapsulates the idea that Abel is torn in between his many facades – that he is personally hurting deeply, but he fears to succumb to it in front of the public. He puts on a "heartless" façade to uphold the image he has been maintaining for years; however, he can’t seem to run away from the cold, hard abyss of his loneliness.
In simple words: this song is a self-parody.
Essentially, Abel is killing three birds with one stone.
1) he’s giving the fans what they want by upholding his Starboy-esque persona and delivering bangers
2) he’s maintaining the narrative that he has fabricated for himself by showcasing his many identities
3) he’s exquisitely elucidating his pervading identity crisis and low-key imposter syndrome
‘Faith’:
This next song is a sombre slapper in direct line with the previous one. Here, Abel produces yet another Starboy-esque banger, singing carelessly about his drug abuse and hedonistic lifestyle. He sings about relapsing as something messy—exciting, euphoric, and ultimately tragic. We see here that Abel is trying to establish a separation between his normal life and his drug-infused life. He feels as though the drugged life is affecting his personal relationships. However, once again, he struggles to rid himself of it. Abel has creating a distorted reality for himself with muffled vocals and intoxicating lyrics – a mark of a highly talented musician.
This song features an outro similar to the bridge in ‘Heartless’ – melancholic and choir-like. He repeats the lines “I end up at the back of a flashing car; the lights are blinding me again”. I won’t talk much about this, but all I’ll say is that this is the perfect set-up to the next song – the public’s favourite.
It’s time for the triple-platinum record song – arguably the most popular song of the year (even though it was released in 2019!).
The intro to this song picks up from the eerie outro of 'Faith', but quickly switches gears into a sonic electro-pop tempo beat reminiscent of the 80s. It is full of beautiful synths with a touch of brass; he’s even incorporated wonderfully ambient undertones throughout his sound – all polished to match up to the industry norms of the time. Interestingly, this rather retro throwback has been juxtaposed with a pervading, sonic futuristic sound – again, accentuating the musical uniqueness of this album and demarcating a new era of music.
This song, all-in-all, is an absolute irony. If this song was sung by say, Lewis Capaldi, it would have been something else altogether. The lyrics are most certainly a plea for help drowning within the upbeat tempo. This poetically characterises Abel’s life at this point: he’s constantly pleading for someone to understand him and yank him out of his agony, but all of it goes in vain as he continues upholding his Starboy persona and evidently his masculinity.
This song is about how the lights of stardom have blinded him and how he yearns for nothing but true love. He speaks at length about a past relationship, from which he’s still suffering “withdrawals”.
The iconic line “Sin city’s cold and empty, no one’s around to judge me” is ever so relevant in our lives today. We all are in a state of solitude and we’re away from the monster that is city-life. Las Vegas, particularly known for its prominence of promiscuity, drugs and gambling, is what Abel considers a safe haven. He feels as though this city is, above all, a mode to escape from his life of stardom from Los Angeles.
The inherent irony in this song is commendable, and it could not have been done so magnificently by anybody other than him in the industry at the moment.
‘After Hours':
The title song of the album is perhaps the darkest. The vocals and the lyrics undergo a transformation as the longest track on the album progresses. The ubiquitous eerie atmosphere in this album is at its peak in this track.
“Girl, I felt so alone inside of this crowded room
Different girls on the floor distracting my thoughts of you
I turned into the man I used to be”
“Put myself to sleep, just so I can get closer to you inside my dreams
Didn’t wanna wake up unless you were beside me”
These lyrics highlight the anguish and pain that comes along with heartbreak. These are Abel’s deepest and darkest thoughts and spat out in this euphonic melody where he finds the perfect link between his existential and romantic anxiety. The Weeknd keeps returning to the same broken love that he, in part, credits himself for destroying, and is apologetic for hurting anyone else in the process. Here is where the trap and synth combination work in harmony the best. The pervading heartbeats and echoey mood encapsulate the mysterious nature of the singer, and the song’s electro-tinged switch-up in the middle of the song just further supports this in a harmonious manner.
This song serves as an apology letter of sorts. Abel has hurt multiple people throughout his career, many of whom he didn’t intend to do so to. All he can do is ask for forgiveness and try to explain his actions, which he has done marvellously through this song. He essentially talks about how he wants to let go of, not only his past, but his present, and search for something ostensibly real: true love and comfort.
Although this track is wonderfully reminiscent of the thematically similarTrilogy, we cannot undermine the sheer genius gone into this song by comparing it to anything – even Abel himself.
Once again, in the concluding track on this beautiful album, we see the personification of drugs to women, as dependence on both brings him feelings of ecstasy and temporary gratification. He alludes to the idea of cutting out love and drugs as well, as he desires to be self-dependent.
The set ends with a concerning ululation to his fans about being terrified, not wanting to "touch the sky anymore”. The abrupt end to this album makes it rather difficult to obtain closure and fully understand what his ending notes would want to be. But maybe that was the intention. We must not forget – although The Weeknd has definitely evolved from the shallow fuck-boyish heartthrob he was in Trilogy, he is still the enigmatic public figure he has always been. He cannot make everything pellucid to us as an audience, and has done us a favour by leaving a bit of space for personal interpretation.
To fully understand the purpose of this song, it is imperative to watch the music video for it. We see that Abel is in what seems to be a house party full of drugs and balloons.
Strange, right – balloons? Not at all.
It seems as though Abel has finally, over the course of the entire long album, killed his old character in Starboy. He comes back to the room spinning of his past (Echoes of Silence, House of Balloons, Thursday, Kiss Land, Beauty in the Madness, Starboy, My Dear Melancholy) – all of which haunt him throughout the video. This is a perfect portrayal of Abel’s many identities finally converging and driving him to the brink of madness – consequently engendering him to “bleed out”.
Summary of the narrative storyline:
In Alone Again, he was struggling to draw the line between being in a loving relationship and living the life of bustling stardom.
In Too Late, he discusses how he can't be saved from himself.
In Hardest to Love and Scared to Live, he reminisces on hurting his lover so many times that she's hesitant to love anyone else. She ultimately leaves him, and he reflects on that.
In Escape from LA and Snowchild, he reflects on materialistic things that grant him instantaneous gratification and women, but they all feel the same now: futile.
In Faith, he parties so hard he overdoses.
In Heartless and Blinding Lights, he's embracing the nightlife and trying to forget about his misery and maintain his social façade, and at the end of the songs he harkens back to a specific lover for comfort.
In Save Your Tears, he tries to go back to this lover again, but this time she won't accept him.
In Repeat After Me, it's confirmed that his lover finds someone else. He’s put off by this and suggests that she doesn't love the new guy, and doing this to spite him.
In After Hours, he misses this lover and the only way he can get close to his lover again is in his dreams. The only way he can forget is by getting high. But now, the drugs aren’t working (after the overdose scare, he realized the high he wants is unobtainable).
In Until I Bleed Out, he's sick of getting high, and he's sick of thinking about this lover, and the only way to stop it is by cutting himself, and bleeding out (killing himself).
Conclusion:
The Weeknd has produced a beautifully interwoven narrative of the harrowing tale of his life: the intricacies of his anguish accentuated by his constant worrisome melancholic and borderline suicidal thoughts. This character that Abel has produced for himself is like the perfect cross between The Joker and Michael Jackson – especially pertinent in our generation.
This album has absolutely brilliant promotional material. The Weeknd has adopted a unique villainous façade with a marvellously cosmic aesthetic. The main feature of this album that sets it apart from its predecessors is the fact that it produces the same agonising tales of his mind, but from a different angle because it isn’t accompanied by talk of drug-infused (read: coked-up) one-night stands and womanizing lyrics.
Abel is perhaps the only one who truly takes this ‘new year, new me’ stuff seriously. We now see a mature and composed rendition of The Weeknd – a version we all have been yearning to see for years. The Weeknd will go down in history as being one of the defining voices of this generation with his particularly unique – seemingly angelic – falsetto voice juxtaposed with his harrowing lyrics: a beautiful musical irony.
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