The Weeknd is “Dancing in the Flames” in New Single

Image Courtesy of Pitchfork

By Mariam Baldwin

Last Friday, the Weeknd released his new single, “Dancing in the Flames.” It’s the first song to drop from his upcoming album, Hurry Up Tomorrow. 

The song itself is an 80s synth-pop ballad reminiscent of his 2020 single “Blinding Lights.” The new song is relatively upbeat compared to the other ones in his discography, which often explores darker and grittier themes. The lyrics tell the story of a love that defies trials and tribulations to survive. He likens the relationship to a high-speed midnight drive, where you don’t know whether things will go smoothly or up in flames. But the Weeknd declares that even if the whole thing explodes into a fiery wreck, they’ll be “dancing in the flames.” It sees him embracing the unpredictability that goes into loving somebody else, at one point even relinquishing control to his partner. At the song’s end, he asks them to “just have faith.”

The new song elicited a strong fan reaction. In particular, it stoked a strong desire for Hurry Up Tomorrow to be released to the public already. One fan wrote, “The problem with The Weeknd is that his single releases never make sense until you hear it with the album.” Another simply said, “I need this Weeknd album immediately.”

There isn’t an official release date for the album yet, though music lovers anticipate it to release before the end of 2024. Once released, it will complete a trilogy that includes 2020’s After Hours and 2022’s Dawn FM. It will also be significant as the last album released before the Weeknd retires his stage persona and opts for his real name, Abel Tesfaye. 

“It’s getting to a place and a time where I’m getting ready to close the Weeknd chapter,” he told W Magazine. “I’ll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as The Weeknd. But I still want to kill The Weeknd. And I will. Eventually. I’m definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn.” He also declared, “The album I’m working on now is probably my last hurrah as The Weeknd… This is something that I have to do. As The Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say.”
To say that the Weeknd’s career has been prolific is just touching the surface of his impact. He has sold over 75 million albums worldwide and was named the world’s most popular artist by Guinness World Records in 2023. The Weeknd has proven himself to be something of an icon in pop culture. We can only wait and see how Abel Tesfaye follows that up.