After teasing his fans for the past month, The Weeknd finally kicked off his upcoming album with the single ‘Take My Breath’, which was accompanied by a flashy music video.
The track was officially announced on August 2 when – after many cryptic tweets and Instagram posts – The Weeknd eventually released a snippet of it that came along with a trippy clip picturing a sunrise. So, following his record-breaking ‘After Hours’ album, it seems like “the dawn is coming”.
Similarly to how ‘Blinding Lights’ was teased through a Mercedes commercial, ‘Take My Breath’ appeared in a Tokyo 2020 promo for US Women’s Track and Field events.
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The song, which was released during the fourteenth episode of Abel’s Apple Music show, Memento Mori, sounds like a concoction of disco pop and synth-wave, making fans reminisce about the ‘Kiss Land Deluxe’ track ‘Odd Look’.
The chorus, ‘Take my breath away / And make it last forever, babe’, shows that the Canadian singer made sure to stick to his classic ways of concealing darkness within an upbeat club banger.
The Cliqua-directed music video, which features actress Shaina West playing Tesfaye’s love interest, did not disappoint either.
It was scheduled to air in Imax theatres before ‘Suicide Squad’ earlier this week but has been pulled due to concerns over potential seizures caused by the intense strobe lighting that the clip features.
The video pictures The Weeknd wearing a black leather trench coat instead of his signature red ‘After Hours’ blazer, meaning that the artist has said his final farewell to his most successful era to date.
As he walks into the dawn, Tesfaye walks down a corridor and into a club filled to the brim with flashing lights and people dancing before meeting up with his love interest.
After sharing multiple breaths from an oxygen tank, the singer is strangled by his lover’s braids, taking his breath away.
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‘Take My Breath’ is undoubtedly a powerful first step towards The Weeknd’s new album, that will definitely monopolise the charts and radio waves just like his last record did, leaving us hungry for more. It is the perfect tune to rock your body to while on the dancefloor, from the after hours of the night to the early hours of the dawn.
Rating: 10/10
Lead image: XO / Republic Records