By Isabella Ardetto, Contributor

[Conway Recording Studios; 2025]

Rating: 8/10

Key Tracks: “Timeless,” “The Abyss,” “Cry For Me,” “Open Hearts”

Hurry Up Tomorrow not only marks the end of Canadian artist Abel Tesfay’s album trilogy, but also the end of his pop-star alter ego, The Weeknd. This impressive 22-track album features Tesfay’s signature blend of R&B and pop frankensteined with lush synths, melodic piano and slivers of 70s soul and disco sounds. It tells a story of hedonistically-addictive moments of fame, drug abuse and personal turmoil through moments of reflection from the artist. 

The opening track, “Wake Me Up (feat. Justice),” serves as an existential introspection, wherein Tesfay grapples with the quality of his legacy as the lines between reality and illusion become blurred. “All I have is my legacy,” he declares, and later questions, “Are you real, or are you an illusion? / ‘Cause I fear your love’s my delusion.” It is unclear here whether or not Tesfay calls to an unnamed lover or if he personifies the very fame that haunts him. 

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Following this track, the anxiety-inducing skit “I Can’t F—king Sing” makes a direct reference to an incident in which Tesfay lost his voice during a 2022 concert in Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium. What he has described as a traumatic event, which caused the show to be canceled, is a key scene that multiple songs touch on throughout the album. In this skit, his voice cracks and falters as pulsating synths swell louder and louder, distorting as the artist gets progressively more unnerved. 

A smooth transition fades into the next track, “São Paulo (feat. Anitta),” one of which I have mixed feelings about. I am all for experimentation and in the context of an album that sets up a new artistic direction even more so. However, of all the songs on this album, this one fell severely short in my opinion. The integration of Brazilian artist Anitta’s samples makes the song feel clunky and out of place when compared to the sound of the album as a whole. Tesfay’s choice of slurring his words together was not appealing. The choice makes the lyrics nearly impossible to distinguish when combined with the awkwardly mixed-in samples from Anitta. Rather than portray a sense of euphoric-lust-filled daze, the song feels a touch too busy.  

However, the little details that docked points were far overshadowed by the truly amazing transitions between each song. Each track seemingly melts, or at times swells, into the next to create a smooth experience that helps the nearly 90-minute runtime of the album feel more manageable. One notable transition features disco godfather Giorgio Moroder, who facilitates a dream-like synth flow from “Take Me Back To LA” to “Big Sleep (feat. Giorgio Moroder).” The latter track also acts as the critical moment of self-reflection for Tesfay in this album, the singer coming to the conclusion that all his work as The Weeknd seemingly amounted to nothing. “Well, you used up your borrowed life / And you wasted your borrowed time,” he sings, reflecting on the hedonistic life choices that brought him to this sentiment. 

Overall, Hurry Up Tomorrow was a deeply introspective and at times anxiety-inducing album, summarizing years worth of The Weeknd’s career in a bittersweet send-off. Whether or not this will be Tesfay’s last offering all together is yet to be seen, but fans can expect to see more of him both during a 2025 tour and a movie by the same name in May featuring Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan. 

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