The Weeknd's New Album, Dawn FM, Arrives on Friday — See the Haunting Cover Photo
The Weeknd's next music era is almost here, and we are more than ready to hear what he has in store! The singer revealed his upcoming album, Dawn FM is coming out on Friday, Jan. 7. The Weeknd shared the announcement in a cryptic video posted across social media. The clip shows him being dragged into a club by men where he's greeted by a love interest. The video also cuts between scenes of an older version of himself and him as he is today. "You are now listening to 103.5 Dawn FM; you've been in the dark for way too long. It's time to walk into the light and accept your fate with open arms," a voiceover says. Music plays at the end, seemingly from his upcoming album, as Euphoria-style scenes from the club go on in the background.
On Tuesday, Jan.4, The Weeknd unveiled his album cover. It introduces a new personality, which is the aged version of him seen in the trailer. The new character is a strong departure from his red-suited pop star persona that went from fresh-faced to having a broken nose to going through a drastic plastic surgery transformation. That era told a story, and we're curious to how an older The Weeknd will be storytold. We're in the dark!
His album date announcement also revealed he'll have features from an eclectic bunch: Jim Carrey, Quincy Jones, Tyler, The Creator, Lil Wayne, and Oneohtrix Point Never. The Weeknd's been keeping the iron hot in the meantime. His new album follows the recently released single "Poison" that features him in a track on Aaliyah's posthumous album. In the past few months, he's also done a collab with Swedish House Mafia titled "Moth to a Flame," featured on FKA Twigs's song "Tears in the Club" and on Post Malone's "One Right Now"
After the release of After Hours in 2020, the singer has been slowly giving us peeks of his upcoming fifth album over the past year. During his Apple Music 1 radio show Memento Mori in Oct. 2021, he shared,"Some Dawn updates: album is complete." The Weeknd added, "Only thing that's missing is a couple of characters who are key to the narrative — some people that are near and dear to me, some people that inspired my life as a child and some that inspire me now. More to come in the following months."
During an acceptance speech at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards in May, the singer alluded to new music by simply stating: "The dawn is coming." In an interview with GQ in Sept. 2021, The Weeknd said, "It's the album I've always wanted to make." Better yet, GQ Editor Mark Anthony Green noted that the album is "packed with party records." "[It's] Quincy Jones meets Giorgio Moroder meets the best-night-of-your-f*cking-life party records," Green said of the songs. "Not anachronistic disco stuff. . . . That sort of retro thing is having a moment right now in pop music, but these records are new. Sweaty. Hard. Drenched-suit, grinding-on-the-girl/boy-of-your-dreams party records." We're patiently waiting!