Dawn FM - The Weeknd

REVIEWED: July 20, 2022

I have been listening to The Weeknd since I was a wee lad. He has indefinitely made his mark as one of the greatest pop and R&B icons of our time. He is very consistent in his projects and typically caters to a wide array of people. The project which preceded Dawn FM, After Hours, had many sensual ballads and a coherent storyline. This storyline was extended into Dawn FM, with The Weeknd’s character aging and developing new experiences. I LOVED THE ALBUM SEQUENCING! The flow of each song just makes sense, and if you can you should watch Nathan Zed’s video on YouTube called “The Lost Art of Album Sequencing” for further insight into why this characteristic of the album is so important in these times. The album rollout was another strong selling point. The Weeknd oftentimes takes on a character in anticipation of a new album release, and this, also spoken about by Nathan Zed makes a point of talking about how the dying practice of album rollouts kills the hype for an album. The Weeknd has always had this skill on lock, and it shines through once again with Dawn FM. He had great features. Even though there were only two actual artist features (cameos from celebrities or actors on interludes don't count), because they were such influential individuals, it made a bigger impact. The strongest quality of this album was indefinitely the sound is borrowed from the seventies. However, despite all of its positive characteristics, it is not all sunshine and rainbows. Despite it being a relatively good project, a lot of the tracks sound the same. This tends to be the case with a lot of The Weeknd’s songs. However, because I just like him a lot I usually allow it. Additionally, there was not a lot of originality compared to his past projects. Of course, he did create a new character in his own cinematic universe, but in terms of versatility in sound, there was not much deviation from his usual. This is not the worst thing an artist could do with a project, but it does mean that some songs end up being forgettable. This album was released at the beginning of the year and I practically added most of the songs to my January playlist. At the time, with very few releases–this and Gunna’s DS4Ever were in my rotation–the album was a staple in my library. However, as the year went on and we were blessed with releases from Brent, Steve, and Giveon, among many artists, the album became a little underwhelming. I really like The Weeknd so I continued to listen to my ultra-favourite tracks, but other than that, it was not the most memorable album. I will give it props for its rollout and the experience I had listening to the album, but post-listen was not too memorable. I would recommend this album to anyone who is trying to get into R&B in 2022 and wants to start with something digestible and appealing to a large group. However, if you have already stumbled down the R&B rabbit hole and are looking for more experimental and unique-sounding tracks, this album might not be your cup of tea. Once again, thank you all for reading! Until next time, peace out.