Last week, The Weeknd finally unveiled “Take My Breath,” the lead single from his upcoming album The Dawn that he’s been teasing for quite a while. Now, he’s back with an even groovier extended version of the hit song, which you can stream below.
“Take My Breath (Extended Version)” goes all in on ’80s synth, disco drumming, and that infectious, wobbly bass that sounds like it’s straight out of a Halloween movie. It’s hard to hear the lengthier version of this absolute jam and not interpret it as The Weeknd giving everyone a reason to dance as vaccinated people cautiously begin celebrating a post-pandemic world. “I know temptation is the devil in disguise,” he sings. “You risk it all to feel alive.” The single is about being in a whirlwind romance, of course, but lyrics about making your breath last forever and finally living life feel especially timely.
It’s been four days since The Weeknd premiered the radio edit of “Take My Breath” and it’s already an undeniably success. Not only does the music video for the original cut already have over 15 million views, but the lyric video has 2 million plays, the “XO Lens” version has 250 thousand, and the instrumental version has nearly 60 thousand. People are hungry for new music from The Weeknd, and it’s clear they’re enjoying it in every form available.
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The Dawn will be The Weeknd’s fifth studio album overall and the follow-up to his massive 2020 record After Hours, which was controversially snubbed from being nominated at the 2021 Grammy Awards. While there’s no release date or tracklist available just yet for The Dawn, Abel Tesfaye did tease the record as being “the album I’ve always wanted to make.”
In an exclusive interview with the artist for GQ, writer Mark Anthony Green further described The Weeknd’s new music as “packed with party records. Like real-deal, illuminated-white-tiles-on-the-floor party records. Quincy Jones meets Giorgio Moroder meets the best-night-of-your-fucking-life party records. Not anachronistic disco stuff. (Not ‘cosplay,’ as Abel put it.) That sort of retro thing is having a moment right now in pop music, but these records are new. Sweaty. Hard. Drenched-suit, grinding-on-the-girl/boy-of-your-dreams party records.” So yeah, we’re very much excited to find out what The Dawn has in store for listeners.
The Weeknd recently teamed up with his pal Ariana Grande to sing her Positions cut “off the table” for a gorgeous live performance series for VEVO. Next month, he’ll participate in Global Citizen’s stacked 24-hour livestream concert to combat global poverty. Tesfaye will also pull triple duty as the writer, producer, and star of Sam Levinson’s upcoming series for HBO about a club owner who runs a secret cult, too.
