Abel Tesfaye, under ‘The Weeknd’, has found himself consistently climbing the ranks of music. Beginning with an extremely dark and emo-inspired style on ‘Trilogy’, a trio of albums with a unique and roughly executed sound palette- to then evolving to the upbeat pop stylings that have found the artist major mainstream success.

In 2018, the artist released EP ‘My Dear Melancholy’- a void-of-character standalone that left the artist’s future direction unknown. However the moment singles ‘Blinding Lights’ and ‘Heartless’ dropped back-to-back, it was clear that The Weeknd would be re-entering his territory as both acclaimed and universally popular. As it stands, first week projections are set to exceed 400,000 units- no small feat.

The release of ‘Blinding Lights’ was accompanied by a music video easily in the running for the greatest of 2020- adrenaline filled and simply cool at its core. The visuals of this era of The Weeknd are admirable and a large benefactor from a cohesive and linear narrative- as all music videos, the accompanying short film and single artwork have supported the dark grandeur the artist addresses throughout the album.