(XO/Republic)
Abel Tesfaye settles into his imperial phase with a masterful Moroder-esque track that demonstrates how strong his vocal ability has become
It’s well-documented how a spell of quality play by a footballer seems to create its own exponential power, snowballing their confidence and sending them into a flow state of accurate passing and silky runs. And so it is with pop music, where a star will lock into what’s been described as their “imperial phase”, where every song they touch sparkles with the ineffable magic of pop: something that goes beyond good tunes to a much more complex compound of charisma and musicianship.
Even more palpably than Dua Lipa or Ed Sheeran, the Weeknd is the global pop star that is most obviously in this phase at the moment. Emerging a decade ago with bruised, introspective R&B that only the most jaded child in the playground would have stuck on their iPod, he’s now making music that seven-year-olds might enthusiastically bum-wiggle and fingerpoint to – as well as their teenage siblings and parents.
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