Weeknd, The - Hurry Up Tomorrow : CASSETTE

Cassette The Weeknd is trapped somewhere between death and rebirth on Hurry Up Tomorrow, his sixth and potentially final album. Though a lot of the experimental R&B and futuristic pop made by Abel Tesfaye as the Weeknd on his climb to worldwide fame has been heavy, moody, fatalistic, and looking towards dire endings, there's a cloud of finality that hangs aggressively and heavy-handedly over Hurry Up Tomorrow. Nearly every song here focuses on the rigors of fame, with lyrics returning time and again to being drained by the demands of touring, wanting out, being in too deep, and generally being ready to end it all. This can come off as utter desperation or self-indulgent metaphor depending on the delivery, but Tesfaye takes every opportunity to impress upon his audience that this is the end. Luckily, these depressing themes are wrapped in the same brilliant production, shiny synths, and intelligent song construction as the best of the Weeknd's output, resulting in a somewhat conflic