root 16 years into his career, The Weeknd is ready to be reborn. Through the release of his latest album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, the globally renowned singer-songwriter presents us with a dramatic grand finale to his musical journey thus far. Hurry Up Tomorrow, in all its cinematic glory, serves as the last chapter of a trilogy of albums consisting of earlier hits After Hours (2020) and Dawn FM (2022). The Weeknd has explained that After Hours reflects his persona entering hell, while Dawn FM reflects a state of purgatory. Thus, to round out this album run, Hurry Up Tomorrow is an introspective entry to paradise – the endpoint of a five-year-long road.
Credits: @theweeknd/Instagram
What sets this album apart is its one-in-a-billion perspective – it’s a strikingly transparent look into the life of one of the biggest pop stars in the world. Hurry Up Tomorrow gives us mere civilians a glimpse into the highest echelon of Hollywood, complete with the struggles that come with life in the fast lane. Powerful lyrics like “I should’ve been sober, but I can’t afford to be boring” take an unflinching look at themes like drug abuse, suicidal ideation, and heartbreak, heightened by the unyielding pressure of fame.
These struggles came to a head in a particularly traumatic incident in his career – back in 2022, The Weeknd abruptly halted his concert at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, only three songs into his setlist. He had suddenly lost his voice, and was forced to cancel the rest of the show, apologising profusely to the booing audience. This fateful day serves as the album’s throughline, with many songs featuring direct references to his relationship with fans, and even incorporating the sound of cheers from his record-smashing concerts. It raises questions about the benefits and burdens of a massive fanbase, and the pressure to never disappoint, tangible in lyrics like “Hope you’ll love me ’til my final day / Even if it was in vain / Leave my guts all on the stage”.
Overall, Hurry Up Tomorrow adds a sensitive side to The Weeknd’s continually maturing sound, as he remains strikingly candid about his struggles with mental health. His musical existential crises are interspersed with frantic, high-energy tunes, encapsulating the chaos and turmoil that punctuate his life and art. Brief interludes in the form of instrumentals and phone calls serve to delineate each theme and arc within the album. Meanwhile, seamless transitions between each song add to the album’s coherence and capacity for storytelling. Over the course of 22 tracks, The Weeknd questions his beliefs, toys with existential themes, and picks apart the dark side of superstardom, coming to the final conclusion that perhaps, it might just be time to quit the spotlight.
Credits: @theweeknd/Instagram
The powerfully cinematic track “Wake Me Up” launches us into the album, opening with surreal synths and The Weeknd’s haunting vocals. The song introduces us to the album’s themes of illusions, death, and rebirth, with ominous lyrics like “No afterlife, no other side / I’m all alone when it fades”. The track then segues into its unexpectedly upbeat second half, a callback to The Weeknd’s signature 80s-inspired sound. It’s a sign that The Weeknd isn’t straying from the retro sound that his fans know and love, which contrasts Michael Jackson-esque beats with darkly existential lyrics.
“Baptised With Fear” is another significant track from the album, telling the story of The Weeknd’s persona drowning in a bathtub, weighed down by emotional burdens in lyrics like “Tryna right my wrongs, my rеgrets filling up my head / All the timеs I dodged death, this can’t be the way it ends”. The lumbering bass and echoing vocals of this heavy song create the sense that one is trudging towards inevitable darkness, a tragic “death” that is continually referenced throughout the record.
Beyond The Weeknd’s lyrical storytelling, Hurry Up Tomorrow is also filled with ethereal instrumentals, which stand out in songs like “Drive”. In this track, The Weeknd expresses his desire to escape the pressures of fame and embark on a new journey. The echoing refrain of “I just wanna drive” is layered with soothingly melancholic harmonies, which bring to mind the freeing sensation of wind rushing by on a late-night drive with the windows down. Meanwhile, “Red Terror” is a theatrical, electro-pop lullaby of sorts. The distorted instrumentals would hardly be out of place on a sci-fi film’s soundtrack, yet the song’s lyrical content form a sensitive ode to motherhood and family. The Weeknd tells the story of his birth and childhood from his mother’s perspective, with references to his Ethiopian background and tender lyrics like “You came out so prеcious, in the snow, you would grow / Your mama loves you, you’ll never be alone”. The song ends with The Weeknd reciting the poem “Death Is Nothing At All” by Henry Scott-Holland, reinforcing the album’s themes of death and the afterlife.
Credits: @theweeknd/Instagram
The album closes off with “Hurry Up Tomorrow”, an elegy for The Weeknd’s former self. In this ballad, The Weeknd confesses his earthly sins as his persona prepares to enter paradise. Moving lyrics like “With my mother trying to save every ounce of my innocence / I failed her like I failed myself, I’m sorry / Mama, I’m sorry” reveal a sense of regret, and determination to become a better person. However, this song’s ending unexpectedly transitions into “High For This” – the opening track of The Weeknd’s debut mixtape, House Of Balloons (2011), before cutting to a few seconds of silence. In the final seconds of Hurry Up Tomorrow, The Weeknd sparks more questions than answers: Is he truly done with superstar life? Or has all of this emotional turmoil and repentance been for nothing? Perhaps this silence signifies moving on to better days – or perhaps we have returned to square one, and the vicious cycle starts again.
Hurry Up Tomorrow comes at a time of change and transformation – the singer has been hinting over the past year that his time as The Weeknd may be coming to an end, such as by increasingly using his real name, Abel Tesfaye, online and in his work. Reflecting on the 2022 SoFi incident, The Weeknd mentioned that perhaps suddenly losing his voice was a sign that he had already said all he needed to say as “The Weeknd” – that this chapter of his life might be coming to a close. In another 2025 interview, he expressed that “once you understand who I am too much, then it’s time to pivot.”
The Weeknd and Barry Keoghan in upcoming film Hurry Up Tomorrow.
Credits: @theweeknd/Instagram
So, perhaps the album can be viewed as a swan song, as the curtains fall on this chapter of a long and illustrious musical career. Regardless of what may come next, fans can still continue to anticipate the future of his work. He seems to have grand plans for further developing his artistry and experimenting with different mediums, such as through announcing a brand-new stadium tour across North America this summer. Meanwhile, Hurry Up Tomorrow’s companion film is slated for a May release, starring Jenna Ortega, Barry Keoghan, and The Weeknd himself in his largest screen project to date. So, whether one interprets Hurry Up Tomorrow as a tale of tragedy or absolution, one thing is clear – this artist, whether as The Weeknd or simply as Abel Tesfaye, is far from done.