After a two-year break between releases, The Weeknd is gearing up for a return with a mysterious new album. On Sept. 4, Weeknd, born Abel Tesfaye, unveiled the title of his upcoming album on his social media platforms. The project, titled Hurry Up Tomorrow, will be the final installment in a trilogy that began with the multiplatinum-selling After Hours album in 2020, and continued with Dawn FM in 2022.
While details about the album remain shrouded in mystery, Weeknd has released a series of cryptic teaser videos, hinting at the musical direction and themes of his upcoming project.
Although the album doesn’t have a release date, the Canadian singer has a busy schedule ahead. This Saturday (Sept. 7), he’s performing a special concert at Estádio Morumbi in São Paulo, Brazil, which will be livestreamed on YouTube. Then, in October, he will conclude his two-year After Hours Til the Dawn Tour with four shows in Australia: two each in Melbourne and Sydney.
So as fans patiently wait for The Weeknd to deliver his new album, here’s everything we know about the project so far.
The Album Title
The Weeknd’s announcement of the album title, Hurry Up Tomorrow, on Sept. 4 was accompanied by dramatic, cryptic statements about himself over eerie, symphonic music.
“Yesterday was 14 years ago… We held our breath, falling into a shimmering sea in the after hours of the night… Attempted to cleanse the wounds with melodies and lights, a bulletproof bandage to shield what lies beneath,” the scrolling statement reads, referring to his blockbuster After Hours album. “In a place where the seasons never changed, where time ceased to exist. But therein lays the problem. Today has felt like an endless spin, I keep distorting the truth, immune to the dizziness, numb to the nausea. What lies beneath — screams in silence.”
“I look in the mirror and feel both old and new, stuck in limbo and unable to move. I still haven’t faced myself,” his statement continues, quite possibly alluding to Dawn FM‘s rigid dance music sound. “More songs could help, but what do I have left to say? Woe is me in my gilded cage, right?”
“The very thing that once made me invincible failed me on the world stage,” he adds. “A new trauma surfaced, opening floodgates. A new path awaits. When today ends, I’ll discover who I am.”
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The Video Teasers
Teasers for Hurry Up Tomorrow started arriving in July. The first one featured an A.I.-version of The Weekend as a child. The caption on Instagram read, “WHATS COMING ABEL? [weary face emoji].”
In the second teaser, a surreal collection of dream-like, A.I.-generated visuals from The Weeknd’s two project, After Hours and Dawn FM, unfolded. The red suit, sunglasses and sports car from the single cover for “Blinding Lights” transitioned into the elderly imagery of Dawn FM. This was followed by the hooded characters from his After Hours Til the Dawn Tour, concluding with a depiction of The Weeknd as a scared young boy. An Instagram caption accompanying the video hinted at the arrival of a third album, stating, “There are three chapters in this tale.”
The third teaser features Weeknd in another dream-like visual as a young child holding a face mask of what appears to be an adult face of Abel. The boy is then being chased by red-hooded figures as he climbs a thousand stairs to reach a glowing God-life figure. “When you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you…,” Weeknd captioned the surreal video on IG.
A fourth teaser, titled “Unprepared Certainty,” was posted on social media in August. In the clip, a young Abel is following the glowing hooded figure into a house. Once inside, the young boy walks into a tall clock which sends him into a church of mirrors. In the mirror is a reflection of Abel as an elderly man from the Dawn FM project. Then, a dark cloud of smoke engulfs the young Abel, which when the smoke clears, we see Abel as a baby being cradled by his mother.
“All I have is my legacy/I’ve been losing my memory/No afterlife, no other side/I’m all alone when it fades to black,” the Weeknd sings in the teaser.
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The Weeknd Wants to Kill The Weeknd
In an interview with W magazine last May, The Weeknd disclosed his intention to kill his famous moniker on his forthcoming project.
“It’s getting to a place and a time where I’m getting ready to close the Weeknd chapter,” he said. “I’ll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as The Weeknd. But I still want to kill The Weeknd. And I will. Eventually. I’m definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn.”
The Weeknd Performance in Brazil
During his special concert at Estádio Morumbi in São Paulo, Brazil on Saturday (Sept. 7), The Weeknd might disclose further information regarding his Hurry Up Tomorrow album. The event will be broadcast live on YouTube at 8 p.m. ET. Additionally, The Weeknd has pledged to donate 10 percent of the net proceeds from merchandise sales, both at the venue and online, to the Brazilian Soul Fund of BrazilFoundation. This initiative provides assistance to communities in southern Brazil who have been affected by natural disasters and economic challenges.
The Album May Arrive When After Hours Til the Dawn Tour Ends
In October, The Weeknd’s After Hours Til the Dawn Tour, which spanned two years, will wrap up in Australia with a series of four performances. There will be two concerts each in Melbourne and Sydney on Oct. 5 and 6 and Oct. 22 and 23, respectively. Since the singer will have seemingly closed this chapter of his album, the Hurry Up Tomorrow album may arrive soon after.