After Hours＜Clear, Red Splatter Vinyl＞

The first two singles off After Hours were released within three days of each other in November 2019. Heartless, a boastful belter made with Metro Boomin, Illangelo, and Dre Moon, ticked all the boxes to please Abel Tesfayes base. Pills, cars, fame, women, and the hard-fought reward for all the overindulgence -- a ruthless world view to keep the cycle going -- were all in the mix. Never need a bitch, Im what a bitch need/Tryin to find the one that can fix me, contradictory and confused as ever, made the song entirely on brand. Then came the Max Martin-produced isolation anthem Blinding Lights, an instance of Tesfaye reanimating mid-80s Euro-pop like he did with Wanderlust. These contrasting previews didnt give away the fact that After Hours is, above all else, a breakup album. Tesfaye fills much of this neatly sequenced, ballad-heavy set with penitence and longing. He sets the tone with an escapist fantasy that turns into a nightmarish relapse, and is tormented for much of the duration by seeking and receiving salvation and ruination from the same relationship. Some of Tesfayes most vivid and piercing lines are herein. Mere minutes after dropping the superbly dispirited I saw you dancing in a crowded room/You look so happy when Im not with you, he taunts with You dont love him, youre just f*ckin, repeating it like hes convincing himself that hes not jealous. You know hes got it bad when he says he dont even wanna get high no more. In addition to supplying familiar trap-styled prowling backdrops and some other 80s flashbacks, Tesfaye and his varying team of co-producers refer to some softer points in the U.K. hardcore continuum dating back to the late 90s -- drumnbass on Hardest to Love, 2-step garage and early dubstep on Too Late -- modernizing them with finesse. Tesfaye and Martin venture farthest when they meet synthesizer wiz Daniel Lopatin in a dead mall, down by the old Tape World, for Scared to Live, an adult contemporary number that alludes to 70s Elton John but has more in common with 80s love themes by Phil Collins and Lionel Richie. Its so clean and down the middle that it resembles a box-office crossover bid from an artiste swallowing his pride to record a tame song he didnt write. It happens to be one of Tesfayes best performances, his voice soaring and swooping, signifying numbness and codependency, sorrowful about wasted time while encouraging emotional convalescence. It fits into the album and is a Weeknd song as much as the one in which Tesfaye rap-sings of self-harm and addiction, providing financial support for family and friends, and giving his woman Philip K. dick. ~ Andy Kellman

カナダ出身のウィークエンドことエイベル・テスファイが発表したニュー・アルバム。まず耳に入ったのはサウンドスケープだ。ひとつひとつの音が丁寧に磨かれ、無駄な音がない。リヴァーブやディレイを駆使した立体的な響きは妖しくも官能的で、極上のトリップ感覚をもたらしてくれる。R&Bを軸にしつつ、アンビエント、ニューウェイヴ、スクリュー、ディスコなどの要素が入り乱れる内容は、耳を虹色に染めてくれる。"Hardest To Love"では性急なドラムンベースのビートを刻み、"Blinding Lights" はA-haを想起させるエレポップだ。表題曲もおもしろい。ひたすら4つ打ちを鳴らすビートは中毒性が高く、甘美なエイベルの歌声もグッド。
bounce (C)近藤真弥