That red suit is gone, thankfully — but The Weeknd is back.
After the pandemic saw the pop superstar’s “After Hours” era dominate with hit singles “Heartless,” “Blinding Lights,” “In Your Eyes” and “Save Your Tears” — as well as a little gig at the Super Bowl halftime show in February — the enigmatic artist has hung up his crimson costume and is moving on to a new phase with “Moth to a Flame,” the 31-year-old artist’s new collaboration with labelmates Swedish House Mafia.
The new video for the song — dropped overnight — has already racked up more than 1 million views in 9 hours on YouTube as of Friday morning.
With its dramatic keyboards and The Weeknd’s signature moodiness, “Moth to a Flame” sounds more like one of his songs than a Swedish House Mafia one. Although the electronic dance music trio injects a throbbing pulse into the track, it never quite takes off into maximum club banger territory.
There’s no peak after-hours payoff here.
Still, “Moth to a Flame” will attract plenty of fans of The Weekend even if it doesn’t take you all the way to the dance floor — and the kind of club euphoria you might expect from the Swedish squad.
In tandem with the single release on Friday, The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia dropped the video that looks like some kind of Calvin Klein ad. Even if you won’t understand what the hell it all means, there’s a sexy allure to it all — even with The Weekend barely recognizable behind dark glasses and a puffy jacket. And props to SWM for wearing pandemic-appropriate masks.
“Moth to a Flame” previews Swedish House Mafia’s upcoming album “Paradise,” due for release in early 2022. And they will follow that up with a mega tour that will hit MetLife Stadium on Aug. 3, 2022.
Meanwhile, The Weeknd is following in the humanitarian footsteps of new pal Angelia Jolie by joining the United Nation’s World Food Programme as a Goodwill Ambassador.
“The UN World Food Programme is doing urgent and important work to change and save lives on a daily basis and I feel passionate about addressing world hunger and helping people in need,” the “Can’t Feel My Face” singer said while accepting the position at a special ceremony in Los Angels on Thursday, according to a statement.