After Hours is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer The Weeknd. It was released on March 20, 2020 by XO and Republic Records. It is The Weeknd's first album since the 2016 release, Starboy. The album's artwork and aeshetic has been described as "psychedelic", using influences from films such as "Casino", "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", "Joker", and "Uncut Gems".
The album was supported by four singles: "Heartless", "Blinding Lights", "In Your Eyes", and "Save Your Tears". In March 2020, the album broke the most global pre-adds in Apple Music history with over 1.02 million users. A self-titled short film was also released on March 3, 2020 in promotion for the album's release.
A surprise deluxe edition of the album with five remixes was released on March 23, 2020.
Background[]
The Weeknd first teased that he was working on a new album during a performance in November 2018, telling the crowd that "Chapter VI was coming soon". He continued to tease the project on January 12, 2019, by tweeting "no more daytime music". His post made fans and media outlets believe that he would continue the darker sounds that were present in his first EP My Dear Melancholy (2018). The Weeknd further teased the album on August 6, by tweeting "album mode full effect".
After a five-month period of silence, the Weeknd revealed a snippet of the album's second single "Blinding Lights" through a Mercedes-Benz commercial. The next day, he teased the album's lead single "Heartless", which was released on November 27, 2019; "Blinding Lights" was released two days later. In the hours leading up to the release of "Heartless", the Weeknd took to social media to tease the album's era, posting "the fall starts tomorrow night" and "Tonight we start a new brain melting psychotic chapter! Let's go!"
On February 13, 2020, the Weeknd revealed the album's title, After Hours, through a short teaser. On February 19, he revealed the album's artwork and release date, and released its title track as a promotional single. On March 17, the Weeknd unveiled After Hours' tracklist.Hours before the album was released, the Weeknd announced that After Hours was dedicated to longtime fan Lance, the host of the XO Podcast who died the night before. On its release day, the album premiered on the eighth episode of the Weeknd's Apple Music 1 radio show Memento Mori. At the same time, the Weeknd hosted a listening session on Spotify.
A deluxe edition of the album, containing five remixes, was surprise released on March 23, 2020. An updated deluxe edition, containing three additional tracks, was released on March 30. A remix EP, featuring the deluxe edition's remixes and an additional remix, was released on April 3.
Promotion[]
Tour[]
On February 20, 2020, the Weeknd announced the After Hours Tour, set to span North America and Europe. The tour would have originally lasted throughout the latter half of 2020, beginning on June 11 and ending on November 12. The tour was later postponed to 2021, then to 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On October 18, 2021, the Weeknd announced that due to arena constraints, the start of tour would be pushed back to the summer of 2022 and would now be held entirely in stadiums. He also announced that the tour would now be called the After Hours til Dawn Stadium Tour, as it also supports his fifth studio album Dawn FM.
Commercial Performance[]
On March 19, 2020, After Hours broke the record for the most global pre-adds for an album in Apple Music history, with over 1.02 million users pre-adding the album to their libraries.
After Hours debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 444,000 album-equivalent units, which included 275,000 pure album sales. It is the Weeknd's fourth number-one album, and marks the biggest first week sales of 2020 for an album at the time. Additionally, after the album's first week of availability, all 14 songs charted on the US Billboard Hot 100, with ten of them in the top 40, led by "Blinding Lights" at number one, and "In Your Eyes" debuting the highest, at number 16. The album remained at number one on the Billboard 200 in its second week with 138,000 album-equivalent units, of which 47,000 were pure album sales. It is the Weeknd's third consecutive album to top the chart for multiple weeks. In its third week, the album remained at number one on the Billboard 200 with 90,000 album-equivalent units (including 23,000 pure album sales). Becoming the first album to lead for three consecutive weeks since Post Malone's Hollywood's Bleeding (2019). In its fourth week, After Hours earned 75,000 album-equivalent units (including 20,000 pure album sales), remaining at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. It's the first album to notch four consecutive weeks since Drake's Scorpion (2018). After Hours was the fourth best selling album of 2020 with 2.032 million album-equivalent units, including 480,000 pure copies in the US. On March 9, 2021, After Hours was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for earning over two million album-equivalent units in the US.
The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with over 26,000 units sold, making it the Weeknd's second number one on the chart, five years after Beauty Behind the Madness. It also topped the Canadian Albums Chart of the Weeknd's home country, generating 54,000 album-equivalent units, which marked the biggest first-week album sales of the year. It achieved a total of six non-consecutive weeks atop the chart, the most by a Canadian artist since the Weeknd's own Starboy, which led the chart for seven weeks in 2016–2017.
Grammys Controversy[]
The Weeknd did not receive any nominations for the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards on November 24, 2020, and Tesfaye responded by calling the Grammys "corrupt" in social media posts. Speculation arose over whether the announcement of his then-upcoming Super Bowl performance, as well as the confusion as to whether he should be nominated as pop or R&B, contributed to the snubs in all the categories he was submitted to by his team. Harvey Mason Jr., interim president of the Recording Academy, responded to the backlash by saying:
We understand that The Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated. I was surprised and can empathize with what he's feeling. His music this year was excellent, and his contributions to the music community and broader world are worthy of everyone's admiration. We were thrilled when we found out he would be performing at the upcoming Super Bowl and we would have loved to have him also perform on the Grammy stage the weekend before. Unfortunately, every year, there are fewer nominations than the number of deserving artists. But as the only peer-voted music award, we will continue to recognize and celebrate excellence in music while shining a light on the many amazing artists that make up our global community. To be clear, voting in all categories ended well before The Weeknd's performance at the Super Bowl was announced, so in no way could it have affected the nomination process. All Grammy nominees are recognized by the voting body for their excellence, and we congratulate them all.
The Weeknd later remarked in an interview with Billboard that the snub felt like "an attack", asserting: "Look, I personally don't care anymore. I have three GRAMMYs, which mean nothing to me now, obviously [...] It's not like, 'Oh, I want the GRAMMY!' It's just that this happened, and I'm down to get in front of the fire, as long as it never happens again. I suck at giving speeches anyways. Forget awards shows." Despite the Recording Academy announcing the elimination of private nominating committees, Tesfaye said that moving forward with his career, he will prevent his record label from submitting his work for Grammy consideration.
Track Listing[]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Alone Again" | Abel Tesfaye, Jason Quenneville, Carlos Montagnese, Adam Feeney | IIIangelo The Weeknd Frank Dukes |
4:10 |
| 2. | "Too Late" | Tesfaye, Quenneville, Montagnese, Eric Burton Frederic | Illangelo Ricky Reed The Weeknd DaHeala Nate Mercereau |
3:59 |
| 3. | "Hardest to Love" | Tesfaye, Karl Martin Sandberg, Oscar Holter | Max Martin The Weeknd Holter |
3:31 |
| 4. | "Scared to Live" | Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Sandberg, Holter, Daniel Lopatin, Elton John, Bernard Taupin | Martin The Weeknd Holter |
3:11 |
| 5. | "Snowchild" | Tesfaye, Quenneville, Balshe, Montagnese | The Weeknd Illangelo DaHeala |
4:07 |
| 6. | "Escape from LA" | Tesfaye, Leland Tyler Wayne, Montagnese, Mike McTaggart | Metro Boomin' The Weeknd Illangelo |
5:55 |
| 7. | "Heartless" | Tesfaye, Wayne, Montagnese, Andre Proctor | Metro Boomin' The Weeknd Illangelo Dre Moon |
3:21 |
| 8. | "Faith" | Tesfaye, Balshe, Montagnese, Wayne | Metro Boomin' The Weeknd Illangelo |
4:43 |
| 9. | "Blinding Lights" | Tesfaye, Balshe, Quenneville, Sandberg, Holter | Martin Holter The Weeknd |
3:21 |
| 10. | "In Your Eyes" | Tesfaye, Balshe, Sandberg, Holter | Martin Holter The Weeknd |
3:57 |
| 11. | "Save Your Tears" | Tesfaye, Balshe, Quenneville, Sandberg, Holter | Martin Holter The Weeknd |
3:35 |
| 12. | "Repeat After Me (Interlude)" | Tesfaye, Kevin Parker, Lopatin | Parker OPN |
3:15 |
| 13. | "After Hours" | Tesfaye, Balshe, Quenneville, Montagnese, Mario Winans | Illangelo The Weeknd Winans DaHeala |
6:01 |
| 14. | "Until I Bleed Out" | Tesfaye, Wayne, Lopatin, Mejdi Rhars, Notinbed | Metro Boomin' OPN The Weeknd Prince 85 Notinbed OPN |
2:15 |
Deluxe edition bonus tracks[]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15. | "Nothing Compares" | Tesfaye, Balshe, Quenneville, Fredric | DaHeala Ricky Reed The Weeknd |
3:42 |
| 16. | "Missed You" | Tesfaye, Quenneville | DeHeala The Weeknd |
2:24 |
| 17. | "Final Lullaby" | Tesfaye, Quenneville | DeHeala The Weeknd |
3:05 |
Short Film[]
On March 4, 2020, The Weeknd premiered his short film "After Hours" on YouTube. It was directed by Anton Tammi and starred Abel Tesfaye, Josh Harp, Jimmy Kimmel, and Zaina Miuccia. It was filmed inside the studio for Jimmy Kimmel live, and a subway station somewhere in Los Angeles.
The film starts after Abel's live performance of "Blinding Lights" on Jimmy Kimmel Live. He walks down a flight of stairs smiling at first, but then frowning. There are bandages above his nose from when he was punched in the face. He walks outside the studio, feeling his nose and wincing in pain. He hears something behind him, and the words "AFTER HOURS" appear in the sky. He walks inside a subway station screaming and crying, before putting on his sunglasses and looking at a flashing light. He is dragged through the station to an unknown location. A woman and her boyfriend enter an elevator, not noticing Abel behind them, and as the doors shut we can hear screaming and the sounds of someone banging on the door, before everything fades to black.
The film has gained over 14 million views on YouTube.
Trivia[]
- This is the only studio album that doesn't have any features.