(Singing). That's terrifying and I love it.
Today's video is sponsored by Honey. Hi, and welcome back to me and talking about
whatever I want. Today, I want to talk about After Hours by The Weekend. But first,
of course, I'd like to do my comment shout out. This comment shout out actually goes out to all
of you who were asking where I've been. I mean, I went from uploading almost every single day in
February to uploading three videos this month. I have a big announcement coming up on April 1st,
where I'm going to talk about some personal stuff and I'm going to address the fact that I've been
gone for a lot. So for the record, I'm not back, don't get too excited, but I will be back on
April 1st. I realize the more I keep saying that, the more it just sounds like an April fool's joke.
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joinhoney.com/Dangelo and thank you to Honey for this sponsorship because this video is definitely
going to get copyright claimed. Well, that was quite nice, wasn't it? Now for those of
you who don't know who The Weekend is, but you still clicked into this video because you
love me, don't worry. I got you. Long story short, The Weekend is this guy named Abel Tesfaye.
He was stringing fans along the bit for the release of his album After Hours, which came out
a couple of weeks ago. Well, thankfully for him, the album was not even close to bad. It
was so amazing. And thankfully for us, we got some of the best songs of 2020 so far.
Incredible. There's these big synth sounds, but they're mixing with his
angelic vocals, listen to this. Basically I knew from the beginning that I was
in for an auditory treat. There's an effect on his voice but in my opinion, it sounded really
good and it matched the style of the music. But let me just say, when the beat dropped in this
song, I died. (Singing). Then the beat dropped again harder. Anyway, It was one of the best songs
on the album, which is really weird for track one. It was a good intro. It set up the soundscapes
we're going to be hearing and it set up the theme of this album, which, it gets pretty
thematic. All right, so the next song is Too Late. The vocal effects persisted into the song,
which typically I get very on the fence about, but honestly it sounds cool. It's weird
and interesting, it's not just auto tuned, there's pitch shifting and all this stuff layered
on. It creates a very druggie atmosphere, which spoiler alert, that's going to come up later.
As for the instrumental, it's nice. It wasn't spectacular, whatever. It's very The Weekend.
In fact there's some sounds on here that are actually from previous albums. There's this
squeak sound right here. I actually recognize that sound myself. It's actually from his 2018 EP,
My Dear Melancholy on the song I Was Never There. But aside from the nice music, the lyrics are
really starting to creep up on you on this song, a story is beginning to unfold. Basically, he's
asking for forgiveness for all of the terrible, terrible things that he's done to the
poor woman who is the subject of this album. It's interesting to hear
The Weekend saying sorry for once, given as he's typically pretty heartless, it's the
name of one of his songs. (Singing). All right, so on the track, Hardest To Love, we have
Abel channeling his inner '80s balladeer. Vocals are amazing and they're very over
the top, even the lyrics are over the top, the production is very glimmering and large. Now
I do have to say the percussion choice was weird, it's literally drum and bass.
(Singing). But honestly, it doesn't sound bad. And lyrically, The Weekend is still
apologizing. He's acknowledging that he's done something wrong. "I can't believe you want me
after all the heartbreaks, after all the things I've done." Honestly, me neither, because wait
until you find out some of the things he's done. He goes into detail, but hey, at least he's a
changed man, for now. All right, track four, Scared To Love. It's still very '80s actually.
Thematically, it's similar to the previous song, but in a good way, I could literally
hear this song playing at someone's prom. And the vocals are still incredible. I feel like
if I just keep saying that on every song it's going to get redundant, but the man can sing,
okay? I like how he's not just repeating, I'm sorry over and over, he elaborates and expounds
upon it. So in this song he's specifically hoping that his lover can find healing from all of
the horrible things that he did. (Singing). All right, track five, Snow Child. So in this
song, he's reminiscing on how his life was before he skyrocketed to fame. His delivery in this song
is like something you would hear from a Drake song, but a good Drake song, not a bad Drake song.
There's also some very clever play on this song, which is interesting to hear from The Weekend.
Not typically something I'd associate with him. "Stack a couple hymns like I was shady." Get it?
Because ... nevermind. It was cooler when he said it. The music on this track is very stripped back.
It's literally nothing to write home about. But it fits because this is a much more lyrical focused
song, so it's easier to hear him. And then halfway through the song, he just stops talking about
his upbringing and starts flexing where he is. (Singing). I guess you could say he earned it.
It's the name of one of his songs, I'm sorry. All right, so track six, Escape From LA. Uh-oh,
it turns out the girl that he was so heartbroken over, she wasn't a very good person. It turns
out that girl cheated on him and then tried to make a bunch of excuses, which he then mocked. He
actually mocks her while singing. She's like, "I just wanted your attention." He's like, "You just
want my attention." But he sings it like that. (Singing). Well, I've never heard anyone do that
before while singing, I was impressed. Anyway, needless to say, The Weekend's getting a bit sour
towards this girl now. The song's called Escape From LA because he proceeds to blame the whole
situation on being in LA in the first place, which I have heard from many people is a pretty awful
place to be, especially if you're looking for real people. Basically Escape From LA by the weekend is
the theme song of, I hate it here. So our man Abel doesn't just sit around and twiddle his thumbs
when he learns about his partner's infidelity. No, no, no. He does what any self respecting
adult does in that situation. Cheats back with somebody else. You thought he was going to the
studio to record his hit album after hours. Well, he was because it did come out, but that's
not all he was going to the studio for, he was also having studio hookups. (Singing). I
mean, I'm sure you can see where this is going, so that's the first arc of the album. So
recap. The Weekend's apologizing to this girl, he cares a lot about her. He's even ready to
hunker down a bit and live a life with her, maybe. In any regard he realizes that
he's wrong and he's ready to ... Oh no, she cheated. Okay well, I hate women all of a
sudden. Track seven is literally just him giving up on women basically. (Singing). Also, he's on
drugs now. (Singing). What I like about this song, I like how I'm like, "Oh, this song is about
how women are nothing." And then I'm like, "What I like about this song."
What I like about the song is a beat, not the lyrics because the beat actually reflects
the shift in tone. It goes the hardest that it has on the album so far, courtesy of Metro Boomin.
(Singing). And sadly, this song is an unraveling of all the progress that The Weekend tried to
build up in the first few songs. Lyrics like, "I'm back to my ways because I'm heartless. Trying
to be a better man, but I'm heartless." You get the vibe that he's not necessarily heartless,
he just finds it easier to act that way. I mean, if it's not clear by now, The Weekend's not a real
person, right? I mean, yes, Abel Tesfaye the man exists and made this album, but he's obviously
incorporating elements into the song that didn't necessarily happen. So I'm not really scared
for The Weekend himself, I'm pretty sure he's fine and just laughing and counting his money.
But I'm scared for The Weekend on this album because we're only halfway through and he's
exhibiting some very unsavory behavior. I will say though, my first negative on this entire
album so far is a nitpick. I am really upset at him for not including the vocal effect on
this part of the bridge right here. (Singing). See, that was cool and all, but in the music
video, it actually goes like this. (Singing). That's terrifying and I love it and
if they had done this on the album, I would have been so taken aback that I would have
just given it an A+ without listening to the rest of the songs. All right, track eight Faith. The
beginning half of the song is basically just like, "Oh, I'm at a drug party, but also I'm sad."
Literally so many of this man's songs could be described by that. He references
cocaine, molly and weed in the first three lines of the song. And of course Xanax
follows closely behind. So I was just like, "Oh yeah, whatever, sad drugs party anthem."
But then the song gets really dark. (Singing). So now instead of classic self destructive Abel
behavior, he wants to drag her into it as some sort of punishment. He then overdoses and winds
up going to the hospital in the album. When I talk about it, it sounds like a movie. In fact, it
literally sounds like a movie. There's ambulance noises and everything. Those sirens clashing
with the synths is the most cinematic thing I've heard on an album this year and I love it,
even though this is terrible. I'm not endorsing anything that's happening on this album, I just
enjoy watching it from a distance. Track nine, Blinding Lights. This song has a very,
very '80s beat. The '80s beats are back. Sonically it's cool, lyrically though, oh no,
oh no. He comes back. He goes back to girl. Yes. Yes. So if we're on the same page here, he's
like, "Oh, Hey babe, sorry. I was exhibiting extremely toxic behavior, but I changed."
And then he's like, "Oh wait, you were cheating. I'm just going to go be literally 10 times as
worse and then get more toxic." And now in this song he's like, "Actually, I also still need you."
It has lyrics like, "I can't sleep until I feel your touch. I can't see clearly when you're
gone, I'll never let you go this time." Bro, stop it. Get some help. This album is like
an endless cycle and it's never going to end until one of them just dies, I guess. Speaking of
which, well, we're not to that song yet. I mean, as you can tell, I'm much more caught up in the
story than I am in the music, which is not a bad thing. I think that's incredible. The music is
just being used as a vehicle for the storytelling in this album. And there's been nine trucks so
far and I haven't dislike any of them. All right, so track 10, In Your Eyes. So once he gets back,
because can't live without you babe, he then realizes something that he never saw before.
It turns out he's the problem. And I know you might be thinking, "But didn't he just say he was
the problem on another song?" Yeah, well maybe he forgot because of the methamphetamines and the
cocaine and the molly and the weed all at the same time, you know what I mean? Musically, the song is
very fun and there's a cool sax solo at the end, which I'm always down for. It sounds like
a hit from the radio from the '80s. But the song has no samples that I saw, so it's
pretty incredible. All right, so track 11, we're nearing the end of this rollercoaster.
This song is called, Save Your Tears. Honestly, this song also sounds like it was from the '80s.
Clearly this section is the '80s section. I will be completely honest, I'm not a huge fan of the
'80s sound. I really preferred the synths from some of the earlier tracks, minus the '80s
boom-pah, boom-pah, you know what I mean? And to hear three songs in a row that all
had that '80s format to me personally, by the time we got to the third one, I was like,
"Could you just go back to the cinematic stuff?" (Singing). All right, track 12, Repeat After Me
(Interlude). Yikes. He's literally brainwashing her. I'm not exaggerating. "Repeat after
me, you don't love him. If you're thinking about me," he literally just keeps saying that
over and over, that's the interlude. (Singing). This is a new low for The Weekend in terms
of toxic behavior and I'm all about it. This album slaps, bro. Nah, it's still one of the
darkest songs I've ever heard though. The music is good. It's very fun and silky thanks to a Tame
Impala and Oneohtrix Point Never. Oneohtrix Point Never being the uncut gems guy. And the music is
psychedelic, which adds to the whole brainwashing aspect of, "Repeat after me, you don't love
him, you don't love him, you're thinking of me, repeat after me." So that's terrifying.
All right, only two songs left. So number 13 is the title track After Hours. The beat is super
cool. It interpellates Opr by Gesaffelstein. I have no idea if I said either of those things
right. But I also don't care. (Singing). It's very fitting for a title track. It's just
a good song and lyrically, he finally merges both worlds. See, now we've got conflict. On
the one hand he's singing, "Yeah, no. Yeah, I'm pretty awful, aren't I?" But on the other
hand, he's like, "I also have no intention of stopping and I can also see that's hurting you."
End of song. So how's it going to end? We've gone on this rocky journey, we've explored every
ounce of this man's relationship, what happens next? I think he did something bad to himself.
I don't know what he did specifically, but this song is definitely about he did something. I
mean, it's literally called Until I Bleed Out. And from the lyrics you do get the impression
that he's just lying in a pool of blood singing his final words. But at the same time, it's also
very obvious that part of the song is symbolic. Like he says, "I want to cut you out of my dreams
until I'm bleeding out." So that's obviously not literal, but then again, other parts of the
song sound extremely literal. So in conclusion, he pulled an inception on us. That's it, it's
an open-ending. We don't know what happened. Did he jump off a building? Is that why he's bleeding
out? Did he get stabbed? Is he just waxing poetic and there's no blood involved? But how could you
say there's no blood involved when there's blood all over him on the album cover? What did The
Weekend do in Bleeding Out? The world may never know until he decides to release a new album.
As I've said multiple times, the production on this album is incredible. Without fail, all 14
songs are technological masterpieces from some of the brightest minds in music production today.
His vocals were consistently really good. There's a lot of effects applied to his vocals and that
might be jarring to you just as it has been to me in the past. But in this case, I think you
might find like I did, that the effects really added to the very off and strange atmosphere
that he was trying to create on After Hours. The storytelling was just simply the best I've
heard on an album in years. I'm very strongly inclined to say this is the best storytelling I've
heard on an album in my entire life, but I'd have to think a bit harder before I say that. After
all, Gord Downie has plenty of albums, but still, without a doubt, the storytelling was phenomenal.
It wasn't just a concept, like, "Oh, there's blood on my nose." No, this man used all 14 songs to
tell one story. After Hours by The Weekend is an incredible character study of a very bad man who's
very sad and has a lot of money and even more bad habits. And ultimately it just ended in heartbreak
and maybe another hospital trip. I mean, he already went to the hospital halfway through
the album as well. So anyway, you get an A-. It's not an A+ just because, like I said, I was not
a fan of that three track section, I think it was tracks 9 through 11. So yeah, I didn't give it
an A+ but I mean, come on in an A- is the highest grade I've ever given on this channel so far.
And ultimately my grades are literally only based on how much I personally enjoyed the album.
So even if it was bad and I still liked it I'd give it an A-, but no, it's phenomenal.
Please go listen to it. But yeah, that was my little review/breakdown/storytelling dive
into After Hours by The Weekend. Hopefully you got some enjoyment out of watching it. And even if
you didn't, I got immense enjoyment out of ranting about synths and storytelling for however many
minutes, far too long, so ultimately who cares?
Who's the weekend? Never heard of him.
This is not me in the video btw.