It’s only been a year since The Weeknd dropped his multi-platinum 2020 smash After Hours. But the singer says he’s already got his follow-up in the works, and it sounds like it might be the flipside to that dark collection.
In a recent interview with Variety, the singer cryptically elaborated on the series of social media teases he’s posted over the last few weeks hinting at new music. “If the last record is the after hours of the night,” he told the mag, “then the dawn is coming.”
While he didn’t actually discuss the project, the glimpse of what’s next appears to be yet another creative right turn after the collection that had him wearing a bloody bandage over his nose, a signature red suit, and oversized glasses as he stumbled through Las Vegas, and altered his image with fake face-altering plastic surgery.
It’s not much, but that’s as far as the artist born Abel Tesfaye went with a sneak peek that appeared to fall in line with a series of recent posts about his next iteration.
The singer will perform remotely at the May 11 Brit Awards, but he doubled down last week on his promise to not participate in the Grammy Awards again. After getting snubbed at this year’s Grammys, The Weeknd said May 3 that he will continue to boycott the Grammys, even after the Recording Academy scrapped its controversial, secretive nomination review committees.
In the meantime, he appears to be working up new music, tweeting on April 27 that he “made so much magic in the small quarantined room … now just piecing it all together … it’s so beautiful.” After a busy year in which he’s teamed up with everyone from Doja Cat to Maluma, Kenny G, Rosalia and Lil Uzi Vert, The Weeknd’s been staying in our eyes and ears this spring via the animated video for his Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 Ariana Grande remix collab “Save Your Tears.”
Watch the video below.
