New Weeknd Single features Daft Punk

Today, Toronto’s second favourite son dropped the video for his Daft Punk collab, "Starboy". The clip begins with our pompadoured hero, tied to a chair and asphyxiated with a plastic bag over his head by a mysterious figure all in black. A moment later as the mystery man struts down the hallway of the recently deceased’s Hollywood hills home, he pulls off the balaclava revealing a freshly shorn Weeknd. New haircut Weeknd sets about destroying old haircut Weeknd's house and platinum records.

We are meant to understand that this is a new era of The Weeknd we are witnessing. Literally killing himself off and transforming from romantic crooner to something equally sexy but also vaguely menacing. As Abęl destroys his old paraphernalia and burns his wardrobe, it’s hard to tell what the big transformation is that has taken place. Besides the parts of the track that have been touched up by the loveable French robots, heavy analog synth intro, the Moroder-esque breathy harmonies in the chorus, the song retains the touchstones that people have come to expect from this present iteration of The Weeknd. Honey tinged falsetto, slick production, lively hooks. He’s not reinventing his own wheel here, besides adding a confusing Star Trek 2 reference in a video where he wields a crucifix light sabre before driving off in a fancy car with a panther riding shotgun, this all sits pretty comfortably within his repertoire.

"Starboy" is a slick, engagingly fun song with a slick, engagingly fun video. The Weeknd’s Dead, Long live The Weeknd.

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