The Weeknd, a.k.a. Abel Tesfaye, has a knack for creating cool visuals to go along with his dissolute tracks. His latest, “In the Night," is no exception. The song, from his album Beauty Behind the Madness, has been paired with a video directed by BRTHR starring supermodel Bella Hadid.
Hadid, who is dating Tesfaye, stars as a dancer at some kind of Yakuza go-go strip club while Tesfaye sings out in the rain. What follows is a series of visuals that sort of look like 1980s grindcore cinema as directed by Gaspar Noé. By that we mean lots of violence and dreamlike confusion about just why person X is stabbing person Y (no spoilers).
Lots of people get on The Weeknd about his misogynist or overly debauched lyrics. While it’s true that any artist is more or less the god of his art, Tesfaye is a great chronicler of a certain kind of late-night partier. In a way, he picks up where Bret Easton Ellis left off, as the ultimate writer about those messy nights when time and space seem to disappear.
If you want to know what it sounds like to be out at 6 a.m. and realize that you won’t be making it home before sunrise, it sounds like a Weeknd song. And yeah, problematic things happen in those situations. Does that mean they shouldn’t be written about?
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Demi Lovato Just Released The New 'Despacito' & We’re Obsessed
People Are Still Asking Nick Jonas About Being In Love With Miley Cyrus
Katy Perry Is The Latest Celeb To Reportedly Be Banned From China