This past week I had the chance to listen to Hurry Up Tomorrow by the Weeknd, his newest album completing his After Hours trilogy, which consists of After Hours(2020), Dawn FM(2022), and Hurry Up Tomorrow(2025). This album has been long awaited by his fans after the world tour for After Hours Til Dawn, as well as an HBO series called Idol that ended up canceled after one season due to the overwhelming amount of audience backlash, negative reviews from critics, and problematic, romanticized themes.The Weeknd’s sound has changed from when he originally consisted of dark R&B to now including more 80’s synths, dance-pop, and a bit of new wave with his more recent albums.
The finale to his trilogy Hurry Up Tomorrow is 22 tracks long and has features from Lana Del Rey, Florence + The Machine, Playboi Carti, and more. This album does feel longer than usual with it being over 80 minutes in length, but I like how the sound is a mix of both his past sound and his recent sounds. It has the darker elements from his past number one hits “Often” and “The Hills” with a synth-pop twist. There are also other genres it goes into, with Brazilian funk and trap influences appearing in “São Paulo(feat.Anitta)” and “Cry for Me”. This album was produced by a slew of award-winning artists, including (but not limited to) OPN, Mike Dean, Max Martin, and the Weeknd himself. The Weeknd has mentioned in a 2023 interview with W, “The album I’m working on now will probably be my last hurrah as the Weeknd.” His final message as the Weeknd makes fans wonder whether his future projects really won’t consist of the Weeknd, and leaves them with the question: would these projects belong to Abel Tesfaye, or a new persona?
Hurry Up Tomorrow begins with the track, “Wake Me Up (feat.Justice),” which has a synth-pop mix and sound similar to Micheal Jackson’s “Thriller,” a parallel listeners all over the world recognized as soon as they listened through the album. I enjoyed the beats in “Cry For Me” and the smooth transitions to the high-note chorus throughout the track. “São Paulo (feat. Anitta)” is the third single from this album, but it’s not my favorite. Although I felt like getting up and dancing to the funk beat—which comes from the style of funk mandelão—I didn’t like the lyrics, because they felt lazy and mediocre. My favorite track is “Baptized In Fear,” in part because of the melody and slow drums, and also because of the emotion we hear in his voice. This is one of the darker songs on the album, which talks about guilt, being in a near-death experience, and past traumas. This track seamlessly transitions to “Open Hearts,” which discusses healing from past heartbreaks and learning how to love again. “Reflections Laughing (feat. Travis Scott, Florence + The Machine)” is a track consisting of a voicemail from emerging R&B singer Chxrry22 under the Weeknd’s label, XO Records; background vocals from Florence + The Machine; and also a verse from Travis Scott. Less focused on traumas or moving forward, “Reflections Laughing” shows the highs and lows of stardom.
At almost a billion streams across all streaming platforms,“Timeless (feat. Playboi Carti)” is the most popular track on this album. This track is about how successful they are in their fame, and how they enjoy their lavish, wealthy lifestyles.. This track leans into more of a hip-hop sound than the other songs on the album, and it also carries a hefty trap influence in the beat production. Towards the end of the album, my favorite track is “Red Terror,” because I like the eerie and dark stop-motion features in the music video.
Overall, I give this album a 6.7/10 because I do like a lot of the songs, although I do think some of the songs on the album are longer than necessary, like “Enjoy The Show (feat. Future),” “Niagara Falls,” and the overplayed hit “Timeless (feat. Playboi Carti).” Still, I do think that you should give this album a listen, because it’s one of the Weeknd’s better albums.