.png)
'
Photo credit Getty Images
When you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you'
After previously hinting his next album and final installment of a trilogy would be headed our way sometime in the near future, The Weeknd has kicked off the rollout to the last chapter with an eerie new teaser trailer.
Listen to The Weeknd Radio and more on the free Audacy app
The world has been introduced to the yet-to-be-titled follow up to 2020’s After Hours and 2022’s Dawn FM with a video and the following caption — “When you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you…”
The teaser, which features an “Epilepsy Warning Needed” notice, starts off with frantic flashes that phase into a bright space-like looking cloud that an animation of a young child is reaching towards. From there, as the perspective shifts to emulate the feeling of falling, the same child is seen gripping a mask of a woman’s face, as ominous figures are seen in the red-lit background as lightning flashes.
The camera pans once again to show the boy in a running motion, but frozen still, surrounded by reaching hands. The visual continues to revolve to expose a mirrored illusion underneath water, revealing the hands belong to a stack of red caped individuals. Above the water, as the view continues to rotate, we see some type of alter and shadowy figure, followed by a trio of Abel with brightly lit eyes, and a massive staircase that reaches into the clouds.
While the entire video’s backing track flows together seamlessly, according to Rolling Stone, “two separate unreleased songs from The Weekend set the scene for the trippy graphics.”
On the first he singes, “I tried my best to not let you go / I don’t like the view from halfway down / Just promise me that it won’t be so / Will I feel the end? Backed up the ground / I tried to be something that I’ll never be / Why waste another precious hour?/ Why waste another precious hour?/ I’d rather leave somewhat of a legacy / Familiar, I thought that’s so familiar.”
Which means the second track, a previously previewed demo that his fans have been referring to as “Hold Your Heart,” kicks in around the underwater mirrored image bit. The Weknd originally teased the track in March 2020 on Instagram Live, as part of a batch of songs that didn’t make it onto After Hours.
“Just hold my heart, real close to you / Remember how it always beats for you / I’m falling at the speed of light / I’m staring at your shrinking face, don’t cry / You know my heart belongs,” he sings before the track abruptly cuts off.
Check out the teaser below.