New releases last eight weeks: Hip Hop/R&B

Review: Shockingly, "(Hurry Up Tomorrow) is probably my last hurrah as the Weeknd." With speculation that this could mark the final release under his stage name, Abel Tesfaye returns with his sixth studio album, doubling as the soundtrack for an upcoming psycho-thriller film of the same name, where film and album are to be released in tandem. A known cinephile, and widely applauded for his screen debut in the OPN-scored Safdie Brothers sensation Uncut Gems, Tesfaye's upcoming directorial collaboration with Trey Edward Shults presents an insomniac musician on the verge of a mental breakdown, pulled into an existential odyssey against his best volition. 'Timeless', 'Sao Paulo' and 'Cry for Me' lead the charge, in the aftermath of a vocal injury sustained on tour in 2022. Blending r&b, synth-pop and trap with flourishes of Brazilian funk and hip-hop, the new record doubles as the film's soundtrack, and pushes the Weeknd's palette ever further out into unsettling neon pop territory, contradictorily into the early hours of the weekday.