The Weeknd shares strange short film in the run-up to release of upcoming album 'After Hours'
The Grammy award-winning, diamond-certified artiste, Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, popularly known as The Weeknd, has just released his third music video called 'After Hours,' a bizarre visual tale that seems to be in line with his previous cinematic escapades of the past few months.
Released in the run-up to his upcoming album, 'After Hours' this title track's music video is thematically similar to his previous two music videos, namely 'Heartless' and 'Blinding Lights'. The first music video featured a beaming, disoriented, clearly intoxicated Tesfaye, clad in his ever-present sunglasses and red jacket, as he makes his way through the brightly-lit nightlife of Las Vegas. The second video, 'Blinding Lights' seemed to take off from where 'Heartless' stopped and showed the singer getting progressively higher and higher as he danced and drove his way around the urban jungle of Las Vegas and even got involved in a punchup with security guards at a nightclub.
This bizarre new third music video in the trilogy, directed by Anton Tammi, the same man who was behind 'Heartless' and 'Blinding Lights', seems to echo the strange visual motifs present in those two previous ventures. It starts off by showing Tesfaye smiling and soaking in the adulation of the crowd as he finishes a performance of 'Blinding Lights' on Jimmy Kimmel's show. The vocalist is seen wearing the same red jacket that he wears in the previous two music videos and he’s got the same banged-up nose we saw him get in 'Blinding Lights'. His smile gradually fades as he makes his way outside the set of the show and onto the street, echoing a theme he utilized when performing 'Heartless' on 'The Late Show' in December, back then, he was seen singing and prowling around the Ed Sullivan Theater and playing up to the camera.
Once he gets to the street in 'After Hours' is where things get progressively stranger and darker. The Weeknd seems troubled and in pain as he walks through a subway station, and almost seems like he is going to break down in tears at one point. The instrumental nature of the track features no vocals, and Tesfaye is seen silently screaming at one point, almost mirroring this no-vocals theme. And then things dramatically change once he puts his sunglasses on - immediately, things get more psychedelic and bizarre, echoing the chaotic energy of the first two videos. Some unseen force literally drags Tesfaye by his feet through the subway station, as he frantically screams, struggles and tries to escape.
Then abruptly, the video cuts to a young couple as they get on an elevator and discuss plans for the night - a glowering, somber Tesfaye can be seen in the background, seemingly about to do or say something, before the elevator doors close on us and the music video ends. It's a rather strange, dark and foreboding music video, and we can't wait to see the continuation of this cinematic exercise that The Weeknd has undertaken in the leadup to 'After Hours' releasing on March 20th.