The Weeknd returns like a leading alpha. With the release of his latest single “False Alarm” we are taken back to the disco-heaven beats of an old-school heartbreak and shown the insecurities of a man seeking validation from his newly developed self.
Leaving and staying are two lovers at odds with themselves. “False Alarm” is a continuation of The Weeknd’s earlier release from his third upcoming album Starboy. It’s dangerously vague and a precursor for The Weeknd’s new sound. While mixed reviews have swayed our opinions, after multiple listens, the song lacks truth. Its surface-level approach at love and women is lost in the 2000s dance-punk beat.
Lyrically, the song has relied on the stagnant topics that have worked in The Weeknd’s favor—drugs, sex, unstable women and hazy metaphors—but this time, the feeling of self in his music is lost behind the over-production and plastic placement of his ego. His track “Starboy” succeeds in reassuring us that a new season of music is upon us and it gives us The Weeknd at his prime—full, boastful and brilliant.
Speaking of love like a language, “False Alarm” is a foreign approach at what it means to invest fully in another. The track loops like a circle and goes nowhere. While the scream is a great addition to the chorus, the song takes us in circles with no intention of ending until abruptly placing its closing verse at an awkward time. The song is a full rise: a climatic point that does not provide a last breath and leaves at the top without coming down.
“False Alarm” is back-pedaling up a hill. Different and outdated, it’s difficult to pick where The Weeknd is and where he’s been. After The Weeknd’s triumphant release of “Starboy,” “False Alarm” seems fictitious. A quick single for the sake of a radio hit, “False Alarm” will chart well, but for the wrong reasons.
