After taking his fans through a Fear and Loathing-esque promo campaign through Sin City, Canadian star The Weeknd has finally revealed when his new album is set to arrive. Titled After Hours, fans can expect Abel’s fourth studio effort on March 20th…also included in the big announcement is the album artwork, which keeps with the theme of his most recent music videos:
Finally, fans were also blessed with the LP’s title track, which The Weeknd liberated at midnight. The dark and moody single — produced by The Weeknd, DaHeala and Illangelo — sees the XO artist singing about a lost love through his past transgressions…it definitely feels like a callback to the earlier vibes that made The Weeknd a household name in the first place:
“I was running away from facing reality/
Wasting all of my time on living my fantasies/
Spending money to compensate, compensate/
‘Cause I want you, baby I’ll be livin’ in Heaven when I’m inside of you/
It was definitely a blessing, wakin’ beside you/
I’ll never let you down again/
…
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, your heart…/”
Near the end of last year, The Weeknd dropped off the first two singles from the project — “Heartless” and “Blinding Lights” — and accompanying videos that saw The Weeknd (and producer Metro Boomin) on an absolute tear in Las Vegas, running through casinos and strip clubs with reckless abandon. We can only wonder how this story will continue.
Press play on “After Hours” below. You can also lock in a copy of the single when you pre-order the album of the same name via your preferred streaming platform. Given that we have a few weeks before the album of the same name makes landfall, fans can probably expect more drops from the project before then.