Welcome to Purgatory. The Weeknd Will Be Your DJ.
His new album makes the road to the afterlife sound like the ’80s, in the best way possible.
What was so spooky about the 1980s? Maybe Freddy Krueger, Thriller, and goth eyeliner just reflected Cold War anxieties and suburban dread. Or maybe technological progress in the entertainment industry better explains the decade’s Halloween-party aesthetics. After all, without certain synthesizers and drum machines, you don’t get the sinister arpeggios of John Carpenter soundtracks or the telltale beat of New Order’s “Blue Monday.” When previously unfathomable sounds and visions become commonplace, thoughts of the supernatural become natural.
Today, as devices
