The Weeknd’s newest album “Dawn FM” debuted at number 1 on Billboard’s Top Album sales, with 24,000 copies sold in the first week of its release making it one of his best-selling albums.
“Dawn FM” was released on January 7, 2022, being The Weeknd’s fifth studio album. It was produced by Calvin Harris, along with others. The album is also narrated by Jim Carrey and guest vocals by Tyler the Creator, Quincy Jones, Josh Safdie, and Lil Wayne. He went on the After Hours til Dawn Tour on July 14, 2022, to promote the album.
Dawn FM is an exploration of The Weeknd’s struggles with love hidden behind a funky ’80s synthesized beat that teleports you to the oblivion of Dawn FM. With the top songs, “Sacrifice”, “Out of time”, and “Is There Someone Else?”, The Weeknd conveys his journey to finding love.
The hit song “Sacrifice” on the album is the most listened to and, in my opinion, the best song in the album. The meaning of this piece is very different from the beat of it with its funky tone. The rhythm of the song makes you want to dance and bop your head despite the actual meaning of it being vastly different. This song portrays the Weeknd as a man who would go out and party rather than be in a relationship. In this song, he repeatedly says how he tries to love his love interest, but he would sacrifice her love for more time to himself.
“Sacrifice” also makes him seem very toxic with the lyric, “I can break you down and pick you up,” insinuating that he’s not a good person and would gladly break this girl down. At the song’s end, it seems like the Weeknd is struggling with what he truly wants. However, he contradicts himself by saying, “I try,” indicating he doesn’t know what he wants.
“Out of time” is a beautiful, slow song compared to the others on the album and a good change of pace. In this song, The Weeknd reflects and finally understands that he’s been cold to the people he’s loved most. He finally accepts that he loves this girl but can’t keep her from loving other people because he has run out of time with her. He mentions how if the person she’s with messes up, he will always be there waiting for her. The Weeknd is begging her to return to him since he knows what he did wrong. The song also samples the 1983 song “Midnight Pretenders” by Japanese artist Tomoko Aran.
“Is There Someone Else?” is a song with a simple message of suspected cheating behind a lover’s back. The Weeknd seems to be in a relationship with someone he suspects is cheating on him. In the song, he talks about how he has changed for his lover. Changing himself for this girl is his desperate attempt to keep this girl with him, and only him.
Overall this album was great, with excellent lyrics, fantastic production, and storytelling. Mostly every song will get you bumping your head up and down because of its ’80s synth beat that sends you into the strange, captivating 80s world of Dawn FM. However, if you look into the lyrics, it’s mainly about a hurting man that struggles with love and accepting it.
