103.5 Dawn FM

Dawn FM album cover

Standout Tracks: Less Than Zero, Sacrifice, Is There Someone Else, Here We Go Again, Take My Breath, Out Of Time, Gasoline

“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. Scared? Don’t worry. We’ll be there to hold your hand and guide you through this painless transition. But what’s the rush? Just relax and enjoy another hour of commercial free yourself music on 103.5 Dawn FM. Stay tuned.”

2 years ago Abel Tesfaye, more commonly known by his stage name The Weeknd, released one of the most succesful R&B albums of all time; After Hours. It was moody and emotional and full of dark synthesizers and infectious hooks. Tesfaye took the 80’s synthwave/dreampop genre to new heights with tracks such as ‘In Your Eyes’, ‘Save Your Tears’ and ‘Blinding Lights’, the latter of which is one of the biggest songs of all-time. His inescapable presence in maintstream pop music since the release of his last album has been nothing short of incredible. In his ‘off-year’ 2021, the hits from After Hours continued to top the charts around the world while he released a string of features on tracks with Kanye West, Doja Cat, Post Malone and Swedish House Mafia to name a few. Now with the release of Dawn FM, The Weeknd breathes new life into his signature 80’s inspired synthwave sound and does so whilst sounding better than ever.

The album opens with the title track ‘Dawn FM’, where Tesfaye, accompanied by the legendary Jim Carrey introduce us to the radio station 103.5 Dawn FM, which will be our guide as we make our way through purgatory. The bright, ethereal synthesizers serve as a beautiful introduction to this concept album and seemlessly transition into the first proper track, ‘Gasoline’. Speaking of transitions, this album is like being a kid in a candy shop. Every song blends perfectly into the next, with the transition between ‘How Do I Make You Love Me’ into ‘Take My Breath’ giving me goosebumps. I’m also thrilled that he decided to go with the extended version of ‘Take My Breath’. Hearing it in the context of the album gives this song new life and reaffirms my inital thoughts that this song is synthwave/disco gold.

The lead single ‘Sacrifice’ is another catchy track with an infectious chorus, this time being backed by INXS/MIchael Jackson inspired guitars and elements of funkwave. This track is a testament to how Tesfaye adapts old sounds into new pop bangers that truly show off his pop prowess.

The second half of the album is a pure cinematic experience, and the run from ‘Best Friends’ to ‘Every Angel Is Terrifying’ is nothing short of incredible. Even though each track sounds vastly different, they all meld together so perfectly that it all sounds like one big journey. ‘Starry Eyes’ is a deeper cut where Tesfaye bares all to the girl he has been enamoured with since he was “young and alone in this world.” It again has a beautiful instrumental that leads into ‘Every Angel Is Terrifying’ which has some incredible sounds. It’s just a shame it’s an advertisement and not an actual song.

‘Less than Zero’ is dreampop/new wave perfection. The guitar-driven track provides the literal highlight of the album through the use of bright synths, cinematic backing vocals and a powerhouse of a chorus that you can’t get out of your head.

The album comes to a close with ‘Phantom Regret by Jim’, which is a poem spoken by Jim Carrey and is possibly the best outro to an album I’ve ever heard. Otherworldly synths and heavenly backing vocals from Tesfaye are a perfect accompaniment to the words being spoken by Carrey. It seems to comment on the emptiness and loneliness that we all collectively are feeling as we seem to be delving deeper into the unkown. “You're tuned to Dawn FM, the middle of nowhere on your dial. So sit back and unpack, you may be here a while now that all future plans have been postponed.” He also speaks about not wanting to be regretful about past mistakes, and also about being hopeful for the future and what is to come.

I really think the beauty of this album is in its replayability. Usually when I listen to an album there is one, maybe two songs that stand out, and these are the songs that I end up putting on repeat for the first few days, but with Dawn FM I’ve had the entire album stuck in my head. I just want to keep listening to the whole thing. It gets better and better with every listen and it’s a true compliment to his artistry that the album feels this way. We’re yet to see the charting power of Dawn FM, but I can safely say that this record feels more dynamic and more versatile than After Hours.

Dawn FM shows that not only can The Weeknd emulate the nostalgic sounds of the past, but he can do so whilst propelling us on a journey into the future. Awesome storytelling, infectious chorus’ and legendary production assure that Dawn FM is going to be a defining point for Abel’s career, and pop-music for years to come.