With the impending release of his fourth studio album expected to drop over the next couple of months, The Weeknd has released his third promotional single and title track, ‘After Hours’.
Continuing the return to his darker sonic that curated the foundations of his first two albums, he finds a way to add a pop polish to them so he can still comfortably sit in the commercial charts and keep his worldwide domination happening.
‘After Hours’ is an average at best song that explores a failed relationship and the heartbreak that follows along with the deep emotions of wanting to find a way to make it work.
“Where are you now when I need you most? I’d give it all just to hold you close. Sorry that I broke your heart” he confesses during the brief chorus while the rest of the song dances around his sonical exploration.
Layering itself in deep exploration, he begins with dark and brooding production that has this heavy hitting mood which puts the spotlight on his echoing vocals. Switching it up, he implements a disco influenced dance beat that changes the rhythmic flow but lacks any further growth. I was waiting for it to then transform into something bigger but it just lays untouched in the in-between.
But in saying that ‘Blinding Lights’ is also quite a average at best song for him, but it’s still topped the charts and had a huge run on commercial radio, so apparently anything is possible.