‘Dawn FM’ will be released on Jan. 7.
The Weeknd has announced that his new album, Dawn FM, will be released on Friday (Jan. 7).
The once-underground R&B singer-songwriter, born Abel Tesfaye, took to social media on Monday to share the news of his forthcoming release. “New album : dawn FM // january 7th,” he captioned a cryptic video teaser with snippets of new music.
Billed as “A new sonic universe from the mind of The Weeknd,” Dawn FM will feature collaborations in some form with Quincy Jones, Tyler, the Creator, Lil Wayne, Oneohtrix Point Never and actor Jim Carrey. Further details about the guests were not provided.
new album : dawn FM // january 7th pic.twitter.com/2H8AsuLcCi
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) January 3, 2022
The moody minute-long trailer begins with what appears to be The Weeknd crashing an automobile and being carried away by mysterious hooded figures. From there, viewers see a much older version of the singer looking around in confusion, followed by a stunning image of a blue light shooting out from his head. The clip closes with a radio DJ announcing, “You are now listening to 103.5: Dawn FM. You’ve been in the dark for way too long, it’s time to walk into the light and accept your fate with open arms.”
Dawn FM is the follow-up to The Weeknd’s fourth album, After Hours, which debuted atop the Billboard 200 in March 2020. The set featured the record-breaking single “Blinding Lights,” which recently became the top Billboard Hot 100 song of all time, surpassing Chubby Checker‘s “The Twist.”
The Weeknd — who was named Billboard‘s No. 5 Greatest Pop Star of 2021 — has been keeping busy with his musical endeavors as of late. In August, he gave a first taste of his next album with the disco-infused “Take My Breath.” Since then, he’s shared team-ups with Rosalía (“La Fama”), Post Malone (“One Right Now”), FKA Twigs (“Tears in the Club”) and Aaliyah (“Poison”).
During an October episode of his Apple Music 1 radio show Memento Mori, The Weeknd revealed that his forthcoming album was finished. “Only thing that’s missing is a couple of characters who are key to the narrative — some people that are near and dear to me, some people that inspired my life as a child and some that inspire me now,” the artist teased.
Watch the trailer for The Weeknd’s Dawn FM below.
