Totally agree about Starboy being a quality song, its become one of the hits of the year. And Daft Punk everything they touch just seems to turn to gold. Incredible career they have had and the fact they have stayed at the top for so long
.
With The Weeknd on the surface he just seems like another slick pretty boy urban pop star, but look a little deeper and he's got more to him than that.
The Starboy and False Alarm videos seems to be mercilessly tearing down the whole popstar image he created for his last album. Hence him berating that he's a Mother Flippin' (or words similar
) Starboy. As well as the spectacular visuals that's what I found interesting about the two videos. They do seem to be packed with all sorts of references of everything from Heaven and Hell to his past material and I always like it when an artist gives you something to think about and decode about them.
E-Online have quite a good summary and a fan theory that all his videos so far are interlinked and he is telling a story of him selling his soul. Worth a read if you want some insight into him:
http://www.eonline.com/news/801855/t...-totally-legit
A few choice quotes:
Quote:
“"Starboy": The first video from his new project gave quite the impression. We see The Weeknd tied up and suffocating to his death. His killer? Himself. Well, his new self. The new-haired Weeknd, wearing all black with a blingtastic cross on his chest, kills his former self and while walking through the lavish home, picks up a neon cross and uses it as a weapon to destroy all of the accolades won during his career.”
Quote:
“"False Alarm": And so, we get here. His latest video in what looks to be a sequence of events spanned over years. The graphic video feels like you jumped into a video game to help execute an elaborate bank robbery. With a first-person view, you don't know who you are, but you know you're part of the robbery, because you're shooting up the place. A young girl is taken hostage as you try to escape the police, and you try to keep her safe, while also killing whatever cops come your way....
....The video picks back up with the first-person view waking up to a shard of glass in their stomach. The hostage is fine, so "you" throw her the key to her handcuffs, so that she can help. She uncuffs herself and approaches "you," but false alarm—she takes the money and jets. The robber had the perfect opportunity to shoot her, but didn't. Instead, this mystery person grabs at the cross around his neck, and looks to the mirror next to him. We see the Weeknd's face in the reflection, wearing the same cross he was wearing in "Starboy."
He puts the gun up to his throat and we hear a bang, but we don't see him die. Is this another false alarm? Will we see that girl again? Did we just experience a man's descent into darkness over the past year?”
. False Alarm was made with Hardcore Henry director Ilya Naishuller and uses the same "1st person shooter" style.
