The Weeknd - After Hours [Album Review]
1 - Alone Again: Swimming in a deep red sea of yearning and heartache, this song is the perfect way to kick off the album. It plays like a mood, a feeling; itâs a confirmation that in the time since My Dear Melancholy, whatever hope was found, whatever lessons were learned, theyâve been lost in that ocean of new mistakes. The second half intensifies and darkens and leads the listener down the dark corridor the rest of the album will follow. Favorite Lyric: âTake off my disguise, Iâm living someone elseâs life, suppressing who I was insideâŚâ 9/10, Excellent
2 - Too Late: So yeah, the production in this album is god-tier, and this track goes hard in that vein. I love the distortion on Abelâs voice in the chorus, the tempo, the vibe. There are so many segments and details that could fly over your head the first time â this song is fucking layered. The more you listen, the more it slaps. Like every other track on the album, itâs about mistakes made that push the person you love away, but itâs not some whiny self-pity party, itâs a grim acknowledgment of how you feel and how itâs all your fault. Favorite Lyric:Â âWhen the darkness comes, youâre my light.â 10/10, Outstanding
3 - Hardest to Love: Thereâs a fragility to this track thatâs rare in Abelâs music, and I admire that so much. Itâs about admitting how difficult youâve been and wondering why the person you love still wants you after all youâve done. It strikes at that struggle inside where you want them to let you go because itâs best for them, but the reality of that makes you miserable and you donât want them to forget you. I could say this about almost any track on the album, but I fucking love the 80s-style production here. Such glorious music for the soul. Favorite Lyric: âI canât believe you want me, after all the heartbreaks, after all Iâve done, no I canât believe you trust me, after all the rough days, you still call me upâŚâ 9/10, Excellent
4 - Scared to Live: I gotta be honest, this song doesnât do it for me like it does for most people. I still like it, and I love the lyrics, but stylistically itâs just a little too sappy for my tastes. I feel like this style (minus the fantastic production) is something I could hear a lot of other places, and thatâs something I canât say about most of Abelâs music. The lyrics, though! They send a lovely message of accepting your partnerâs choice to leave you, gently telling them itâs okay to go on in life without you. Itâs a truly gracious and grown-up thing to express. Favorite Lyric: âAnd if I held you back, at least I held you closeâ or maybe âYou always miss the chance to fall for someone else, âcause your heart only knows me.â 8.5/10, Great
5 - Snowchild: Ooh yeah, here we go. In this song Abel reflects on his journey through the past decade. Itâs a lowkey, moody, heart-in-your-throat track. Itâs like walking through an empty city late at night, hands in your pockets, with an ache in your chest. Itâs like leaving everything you had behind because it doesnât matter anymore. You just want out. You just want something new. I can relate. Favorite Lyric: âShe never need a man, she what a man need, so I keep falling for her dailyâŚâ 10/10, Outstanding
6 - Escape from LA: Maintaining the mood from Snowchild, this is a deep dark dive to the mind. Itâs about being dead inside. Itâs about being in love with someone you still have but will never have, you know what I mean? Theyâre in your life, but theyâre not yours. And you have everything you could possibly ask for, but itâs still not enough. Youâve done everything you could possibly think of, but it doesnât fill you up. Youâre still running empty. Itâs cold and itâs lonely and all thatâs left is the voice inside, telling you itâs time to go. But you stay because youâre waiting. So you can be there if they come back. Favorite Lyric:Â âWeâll figure out our shit and find a way; when you say that you need space, I give you space.â 9.5/10, Amazing
7 - Heartless: I thought it was so funny when this song came out last year and everyone took it literally. This song isnât about being some badass heartless jerk with no feelings, itâs about pretending to be that to cope with how broken you really are inside. Itâs about embracing hedonism to hide the pain. The bridge really drives that home, where Abel sings about being lost and depressed and wondering why the fuck the person youâve hurt and betrayed still cares enough to come back in your life. Despite all the boasting and bragging and the fast pace and tempo, this song is really the most miserable one on the album. Favorite Lyric: âI thought I lost you this time, you just came back in my life; you never gave up on me, Iâll never know what you seeâŚâ 9/10, ExcellentÂ
8 - Faith: God, I love this song. Thereâs something transcendent about it. It takes you to the sky and leaves you standing in a storm. The pace it takes, the production around it, the lightning-quick smooth transitions from piece to piece, it knows exactly what itâs doing and it revels in it. It also has the unenviable task of connecting the tracks before it and after it, and dear lord does it ever. There arenât many songs these days that truly tell a story, but this one does. Beginning to end, it takes you on a journey. Favorite Lyric: âWell, I feel everything, when Iâm coming down is the most I feel aloneâŚâ 10/10, Outstanding
9 - Blinding Lights: I love this song to death, too. The synths, the words, the faint touch of hope. Itâs uplifting in a way nothing else on the album is â itâs about driving fast as you can in the middle of the night just to get to the person you love, praying youâll get there in time. Ever since it came out last year, itâs helped me through a lot. When Iâm sad, it helps me up. When Iâm happy, it makes me smile. It might be the most perfect pop song Abelâs ever made. Favorite Lyric:Â âWhen Iâm like this, youâre the one I trust.â 10/10, Outstanding
10 - In Your Eyes: This one knocked me flat. I wasnât expecting another retro pop banger on the album, but uh, here it is. This one means a lot to me personally. It reflects a lot of feelings Iâve had over the years. Thereâs an acceptance in it, a sense of letting go and moving on while still being real about what stays, what matters. And it has a sax solo. Yeah. Favorite Lyric: âIn your eyes you lie, but I donât let it define you.â 10/10, Outstanding
11 - Save Your Tears: Thereâs something soâŚpeaceful about this song. It reminds me of my dad and some of the 80s music he played when I was a kid. It has that nostalgic feel to it, you know? Itâs different for Abel and I like it. At first I wasnât sure what to think of it, but the more I listen the more I like it. Favorite Lyric: âYou couldâve asked me why I broke your heart, you couldâve told me that you fell apart, but you walked past me like I wasnât there, and just pretended like you didnât care.â 9/10, Excellent
12 - Repeat After Me (Interlude): The vibe, the mood, the feel. This song goes deep and stays there. Like Alone Again, itâs like dipping into dark water and swimming a while, floating on a memory. Looking at old photos you probably shouldâve deleted. Reading old messages from someone you shouldâve blocked. It hurts, but it heals. Favorite Lyric:Â âYou donât love him if youâre thinking of me, youâre just fucking, it means nothing to me.â 9.5/10, Amazing
13 - After Hours: This one took us all by surprise, didnât it? A six-minute track with a beat switch and enough atmosphere to make your jaw hit the floor. When it dropped it tipped everyone off that this album was going to be special. The song itself is so fluid, so smooth, displaying everything Abelâs learned since he began. Itâs a masterpiece that perfectly sums up every theme on the album and then some. Favorite Lyric: All of it, but especially the chorus and the bridge. 10/10, Outstanding
14 - Until I Bleed Out: If Snowchild is like walking an empty city at night, this song is like stumbling out an alley as dawn hits the streets, blood running down your side. Bathed in that red light, begging to be let go. Itâs the fitting book-end to where this album started, closing the chapter with nowhere left to go. It doesnât leave with easy answers, it doesnât tell you everything is fine. But it acknowledges a change. Favorite Lyric: âWell I donât wanna touch the sky no more, I just wanna feel the ground when Iâm coming downâŚAnd I donât even wanna get high no more, I just want it out of my lifeâŚâ 9/10, Excellent
Final Rating for the Album: 9.5/10, Amazing
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