ON THIS DATE
bits of radio banter from Carrey, offers a fantasy of escape, the Weeknd said, to COVID-era listeners in an imagined purgatory he likened to gridlock traffic. (Carrey, who evidently befriended the Weeknd on the basis of their shared enthusiasm for telescopes, commits hard to the role, advising folks to “unwind your mind, train your soul to align and dance till you find that divine boogaloo.”)
The Weeknd channels that optimism into songs about relationships, and not always healthy ones; “Sacrifice” is sung by a guy who lies to a woman about how he’ll never leave, while the title of “I Heard You’re Married” speaks for itself.
But there’s a sensitivity in the music to replace the cynicism that defined the Weeknd’s earlier material – a belief in the possibility of satisfaction rather than in the certainty of abuse. After “Sacrifice” comes “A Tale by Quincy,” in which Quincy Jones – architect of Jackson’s most important work – monologues over a creamy R&B arrangement about how growing up parentless impacted his romances later in life; after that comes “Out of Time,” a gorgeous “Off the Wall”style
ballad that has the Weeknd facing the cold truth of a partner’s rejection. (“I remember when I held you/ You begged me with your drowning eyes to stay,” he sings, taking no pleasure in the memory.) The situation isn’t hopeful but the ramifications are: Here’s a man beginning to understand the effects of trauma, even if only to help next time.
Other songs showcase a similar emotional intelligence: “Is There Someone Else?” draws a moral line at sneaking behind someone’s back; “Best Friends” levels with a woman regarding the precise limits of what the narrator can promise. “Here We Go… Again” might be the album’s most idealistic cut and its most pragmatic, with a chorus about willingly giving into love and an endearingly tossed-off guest verse by Tyler, the Creator about the necessity of a prenup.
Compare the cover of “Dawn FM,” in which the Weeknd is pictured in convincing old-age makeup, with the bandaged post-op plastic-surgery look he maintained throughout the “After Hours” era, and his point seems clear: Some problems can be solved through artificial intervention;
In 27 B.C., Caesar Augustus was declared the first Emperor of the Roman Empire by the Senate.
In 1865, Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman decreed that 400,000 acres of land in the South would be divided into 40-acre lots and given to former slaves. (The order, later revoked by President Andrew Johnson, is believed to have inspired the expression, “Forty acres and a mule.”)
In 1912, a day before reaching the South Pole, British explorer Robert Scott and his expedition found evidence that Roald Amundsen of Norway and his team had gotten there ahead of them.
In 1920, Prohibition began in the United States as the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution took effect, one year to the day after its ratification. (It was later repealed by the 21st Amendment.)
In 1991, the White House announced the start of Operation Desert Storm to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. (Allied forces prevailed on Feb. 28, 1991.)
In 2002, Richard Reid was indicted in Boston on charges alleging he’d tried to blow up a U.S.-bound jetliner with explosives in his shoes. (Reid got life in prison.)
— ASSOCIATED PRESS some simply require the perspective afforded by maturity.
What sells this message is the Weeknd’s brilliant record-making, which he undertook here with a relatively small crew headed by Martin and Daniel Lopatin (aka Oneohtrix Point Never). The songs boogie and shimmer just so; the melodies ache with longing and regret.
And these vocals! Over forget-me-not grooves as finely detailed as any Mtume or Patrice Rushen fan could want, the Weeknd sings more beautifully than he ever has on
“Dawn FM” – not least in the mournful-ecstatic “Less Than Zero” (dig that knowing mid-’80s title) and “Here We Go… Again,” where he lays his tender croon against a sumptuous choral backdrop provided somehow by Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys. (One more noteworthy feature: A woozy yet crisp Lil Wayne in “I Heard You’re Married,” in which he earnestly tells a lover that he can’t be her “side bitch.”)
Put it this way: By all appearances, 2022 looks to be another hellish experience. So maybe it makes sense that the year’s first great album should be a feel-good Weeknd joint.