For this this gifted and Grammy-winning artist, the struggle has always been real, but in the most beguiling and hypnotic of ways.
The Weeknd dropped another new music video on Tuesday, for the song Until I Bleed Out off his brilliant and moody fourth studio album After Hours, and in it, the 30-year-old songsmith continues to get beat up by life in the same maroon blazer he’s donned since the album’s first video for the single Heartless.
In this latest episode in the alternative R&B singer’s dark saga, which has seen him go overboard with the partying in a Vegas-like setting and stalk a woman with a knife through dark city streets, the Weeknd again appears in the blazer and black shirt-and-tie combo, with a bloodied face and nose bandage.
Somber: The Weeknd dropped another new music video on Tuesday, for the song Until I Bleed Out off his brilliant and moody fourth studio album After Hours
In Until I Bleed Out, the Canadian musician is again seen at a party much like in Heartless, except here he is already the worse for wear, with a dreary look in his eyes on top of the cuts, bruises and bandages on his face.
The ethereal clip starts with blurry visuals in which the Weeknd, born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, can almost be made out.
As he tries to enjoy the festivities in a large room, filled with confetti, balloons and beautiful women, he quickly gets overwhelmed, falling repeatedly to the floor.
The confetti gets in his mouth, and at one point he locks eyes with a gorgeous young party guest.
Dangerous opulence: In the new clip, the 30-year-old songsmith continues to get beat up by life in the same maroon blazer he’s donned since the album’s first video for the single Heartless
Hazy: The ethereal clip starts with blurry visuals in which the Weeknd, born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, can almost be made out
Too much: The video sees the Canadian musician at a party much like in Heartless, except here he is already the worse for wear
As he sings ‘I don’t even want to get high no more, just want it out of my life,’ his face morphs in an unsettling way, again similar to the way it did in Heartless, as if the skin on his face was trying to crawl away.
The beautiful women sees this and looks at him with due horror.
The party and opulence continue, with an increasingly stomach-churning feeling of endless turning and revolving, as he struggles to leave the party and is dragged and apprehended by guests.
Sparks: At one point he locks eyes with a gorgeous young party guest
Creepy: His face morphs in an unsettling way, as if the skin on his face was trying to crawl away, and the beautiful women sees this and looks at him with due horror
Whirlwind: The party and opulence continue, with an increasingly stomach-churning feeling of endless turning and revolving
The lyrics to the track are telling, as the Weeknd recently touched upon his struggles with substance abuse and addiction again when discussing his creative process.
In a cover story for the 10th edition of fashion magazine CR Men last month, he revealed that he has an ‘off-and-on relationship’ with drugs.
The Starboy hitmaker has also previously confessed to having used addictive substances, and often references the topic in his lyrics — in fact, he received heat for the cocaine references in his summer 2015 hit Can’t Feel My Face.
Struggling: The Weeknd struggles to leave the party but gets dragged and apprehended
Confessional: The lyrics to the track are telling, as the Weeknd recently touched upon his struggles with substance abuse and addiction again when discussing his creative process
Toward the end of the Until I Bleed Out clip, there is a stark location change, as the crooner is now seen in a nondescript and bleak exterior, resembling a desert at night.
He stalks and staggers, again falling to the ground as he sings the lyrics, ‘Girl, I’m bleeding, I keep telling myself I don’t need it, I keep telling myself I don’t need it anymore’.
The Weeknd’s music video page on YouTube contains all his latest connected clips, including Blinding Lights, In Your Eyes and the short film also entitled After Hours.
Toward the end of the clip: There is a stark location change, as the crooner is now seen in a nondescript and bleak exterior, resembling a desert at night
Down for the count: He stalks and staggers, again falling to the ground as he sings the lyrics, ‘I keep telling myself I don’t need it’
Opus: The Weeknd’s music video page on YouTube contains all his latest connected clips, including Blinding Lights, In Your Eyes and the short film also entitled After Hours