It looks like The Weeknd is gearing up to release another album soon. The 33-year-old superstar teased his forthcoming LP this weekend.
The “Starboy” artist took to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday (Jan. 7) to hint at his 2020 album After Hours and 2022 album Dawn FM being part of a trilogy. He posted photos of their cover art followed by a third image with a white question mark. In his caption, he simply added the No. 3 emoji.
The Toronto sensation followed up that post by retweeting a fan page that posted a three-part image chronicling his After Hours era (red), Dawn FM era (blue-green), and this upcoming era of his career (purple). The caption read “pain, regret, rebirth.” Several fans theorized that his next album would be titled After Life due to aspects of the Dawn FM closing song “Every Angel Is Terrifying,” and his retweeting this image could support that idea.
This isn’t the first time The Weeknd alluded to a trilogy. On Jan. 10, 2022, days after he released Dawn FM, he posted a tweet that read “I wonder… did you know you’re experiencing a new trilogy.” The Weeknd got his big break in 2011 with his three mixtapes House Of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes Of Silence, all of whom were combined for his seminal 2012 compilation Trilogy.
The Weeknd spoke with W Magazine last year and discussed how he wants to retire from the “Weeknd” chapter of his career. “I’m going through a cathartic path right now,” he said. “It’s getting to a place and a time where I’m getting ready to close the Weeknd chapter. I’ll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as The Weeknd. But I still want to kill The Weeknd. And I will. Eventually. I’m definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn.”
He also spoke on his forthcoming album. “The album I’m working on now is probably my last hurrah as The Weeknd,” he said. “This is something that I have to do. As The Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say.”