admin The first image of Weeknd’s visual music video for “Blinding lights” is one of the top leading singles from his forthcoming new album, After Hours which is a harrowing one.
We see the singer laughing in a critical way with a mouth spewing blood. It’s the result of a brutal assault following a chaotic night which took place in Las Vegas which he practically celebrates. This work is symbol of his latest creative phase.
It’s also a far cry from when the singer in anonymity back in 2011, born Abel Tesfaye as he started out his musical journey. In that year, an appearance on Drake’s Take Care with the release of three mixtapes (House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence) made the world fascinated with the crooner whose vocals were hypnotizing as well as sumptuous, whose lyrics game was tawdry and formidable.
The Weeknd’s debut 2013 album, Kiss Land, finally placed a proper face on a persona cloaked on obscurity. This one became a supernova pop star just after few years. Despite the accolades, the fame and the fortune, The Weeknd has used his ‘After Hours’ era to lean into the most exaggerated and reckless version of himself.
After Hours persona is mesmerizing, decadent, and cartoonish. The perfect ways to capture the mystery which kick start his career. It’s in the “Blinding Lights” video, his maniacal After Hours short film, and even in his recent late-night performances. But his journey to this point has been tracked through his visual iconography all along. Below, ahead of After Hours dropping on Friday (March 20), we track that evolution.
Magazine 
