The Weeknd, “Out Of Time”

The newest music video from The Weeknd’s Dawn FM album debuted this morning. “Out Of Time” was directed by Cliqua and features South Korean model/actor Hoyeon and a special guest star (who is all over the album, so it’s not really a secret). Dawn FM’s concept (mostly told through undercurrents in lyrics and intermittent, ominous radio announcements) is about the end of a person’s life and where they go after they die.

One reason that the music of The Weeknd (born Abel Tesfaye) works so well with me is it’s a blend of seemingly disparate elements. On the one hand is the sound of the high octave R&B singer, a longstanding tradition of love songs recorded by the likes of Smokey Robinson, Michael Jackson, D’Angelo, and more. Those are the sweet pop songs that have the swagger of sex and seduction with the faux innocence conveyed through their high pitched voices. But there is always a sense of darkness imbued in the music (which has become even more pronounced in the aesthetics of The Weeknd’s recent thematically linked albums), a sense of violence and terror that creeps in around the devotion to belie a decadence that taints the very love he is professing.

In that way, The Weeknd’s songs are very much akin to the works of the Romantics like Shelley and Byron, who combined their sensual poetry with a gothic self-destructive nature. Hell, while it isn’t from the Romantic period but instead the late 17th century, “Out Of Time” isn’t that far from Andrew Marvell’s poem “To His Coy Mistress”.

That’s a high falutin’ way of saying to check out the music video (and all of Dawn FM) as it navigates from a meet cute, karaoke-infused nocturnal reverie into something a bit weirder and darker. Enjoy!