In-Depth Analysis of Weeknd’s Dawn FM

Dawn FM, The Weeknd’s latest album, was revealed just a few days ago, and the singer’s abrupt release was made all the more perplexing by cover art that depicted him in old-man makeup worthy of an Eddie Murphy film. Fortunately, Dawn FM does not sound weathered. The Weeknd delivers 16 disco and new wave-inspired tracks that are ready for dancefloors (and many more TikTok challenges). He also brings back odd-couple collaborators Max Martin and Oneohtrix Point Never, who serve as executive producers alongside the Weeknd. Following are some takeaways from his new album, Dawn FM.

You’re listening to 103.5 Dawn FM

Tesfaye stated to the press in a virtual listening session earlier this week that his initial attempts at crafting a follow-up to After Hours were hampered by depression, which spilled over into the music. “It was too dark and sad, it wasn’t cathartic at all,” he explained. “So I put that album down and created something more fantasy, more of an escape.”

Dawn FM is based on the idea of a purgatory in the form of congestion traffic, maybe inspired by Los Angeles’ iconic bumper-to-bumper situation. The listener’s lone companion while trapped in a tunnel is the fictitious radio station 103.5 Dawn FM.

“You’ve been in the dark for way too long/It’s time to walk into the light,” sings the DJ in the album’s eponymous opener. “…We’ll be there to hold your hand and guide you through this painless transition.”

Ssssssmokin’!

Before getting any further, let’s talk about this ubiquitous radio DJ, who is played by none other than… Tesfaye’s fellow Ontario native Jim Carrey. Tesfaye said in a 2020 interview with Variety that he and Carrey were neighbours who waved at one other from their respective L.A. homes using telescopes. Tesfaye also revealed that the first film he ever watched at the cinema was The Mask, a bizarre 1994 comedy in which Carrey portrays a slob with a cartoonish lothario alter ego—which explains a lot.

Carrey holds the listener’s hand as the Weeknd exorcises his demons as the voice of Dawn FM. The actor’s cheery little jingles appear regularly to reassure that there are just a few songs remaining “before you’re completely engulfed in the blissful embrace of that little light you see in the distance.” The album comes to a close with the song “Phantom Regret by Jim,” a Seussian soliloquy about materialism, forgiveness, and faith. Carrey, a proponent of Transcendental Meditation, advises, “You gotta unwind your mind/Train your soul to align and dance till you find that divine boogaloo.”

Toxic heartache is canon

The Weeknd’s bread and butter is romantic dysfunction—his few brushes with love and joy, according to his lyrics, have only come through extensive drug usage. Tesfaye continues to mourn and embrace his own brokenness on Dawn FM, and it’s no different. Here are a handful of Dawn FM’s favourite Weekndisms:

• “Everytime you try to fix me/I know you’ll never find that missing piece”
• “The only thing I understand is zero sum of tenderness”
• “You don’t wanna have sex as friends no more”
• “I’m dozing off to R.E.M./I’m trying not to lose my faith”
• “And the girl I used to love/We broke up in the club/And I almost died in the discotheque”

The coked-up sounds you know and love—with a twist

Dawn FM sticks to After Hours’ winning formula of ’80s nostalgia to a tee. Tesfaye, on the other hand, uses such whims to good use, and throws in a few surprises along the way. “Out of Time” samples Japanese city pop singer Tomoko Aran’s 1983 song “Midnight Pretenders,” while “Sacrifice” uses the guitar loop from R&B star Alicia Myers’ “I Want to Thank You” from the 1980s.

When it was first released last summer, lead single “Take My Breath” failed to distinguish itself from a “Blinding Lights” rip-off, but the album’s extended version builds up to a glittering autoerotic asphyxiation song. The lavish “Less Than Zero,” with its soaring hook, implies Tesfaye has been grooving to the War on Drugs’ A Deeper Understanding. Meanwhile, the literal Beach Boys harmonies of “Here We Go… Again” provide a touch of tenderness to a tune that Tesfaye claims “makes her scream like Neve Campbell.” Some things remain constant.

—Silviya.Y