I waited with bated breath when I heard the Weeknd dropped “Dawn FM” for a chopped up not slopped up version, since when I started listening to the Weeknd his music tended to be in the background chopped and screwed while I enjoyed abusing promethazine.
I hit up DJ Candlestick on Twitter and he let me know the mix was on the way. Weeks later I checked the chopped not slopped app and pressed play. “Purple Dawn FM” is a record that heavily relies on the manipulation of air instruments (synthesized or otherwise) to tell a story of ascendance through transcendence. Though, “Purple Dawn FM” may not have the instant playbackability as “Purple After Hours”, but as a project the full auditory experience is worth more than a re-visitation and is far from “Out of Time” to grow in listener’s ears and hearts.
Beginning with “Gasoline” as something of a funeral pyre, the story of “Purple Dawn FM” is told as the Weeknd struggles to let go of past regrets on the mortal realm as the music guides him through the airwaves, as a master of existentialist theory Jim Carrey plays narrator / DJ to get both the Weeknd and anyone else tuning into the station to embrace the fact that they are a sum of their experiences and that there is no need to fixate on just one part of that equation. Of course the Weeknd does do just that, with cautionary tales from Quincy Jones (“A Tale By Quincy”) focusing on the worst instances in life that ultimately are outside of the lexicon of control of the self.
This theme can also be seen on the tracks “Best Friend”, “Don’t Break My Heart” and the Lil’ Wayne assisted “Is There Someone Else” – songs where Weeknd is ultimately hurt by his decisions to get into relationships with people who intend to take advantage of him, to the point that one such person even takes his life on “Don’t Break My Heart”, creating the chain of events that is the overall plot of this album. Story aside, “Purple Dawn FM” sonically takes mostly 80’s synth aesthetics to curate a dance record in the vein of “Starboy”. “Purple Dawn FM” is essentially a fusion of the danceability of “Purple Starboy” and the rich storytelling found in “Purple After Hours”.
“Starry Eyes” is an invitation to dance through the pain. Tyler, The Creator takes some Kanye West swag and turns Weeknd’s lament on “Here We Go Again” into a common-law marriage anthem , while Lil’ Wayne on “Is There Someone Else” sounds like the late 2000’s vintage Wayne that destroyed the charts with club hits.
“Out of Time” and closer “Less Than Zero” encapsulate the LP with airy instruments filled xylophones and flutes providing the backdrop to an inescapable existential dread. These tracks easily could have been the singles, but after hearing the extension that Candlestick put on “Take My Breath Away”, the selection is more than understandable as somehow the engineer for the record was able to transform the synths into some of the hardest hitting bass I have ever heard, while the Weeknd vocally dances over the track with ease
This is something the Weeknd handles as a constant in his discography and it’s no different with “Purple Dawn FM”: vocals always pitched perfect even when covering the darkest of topics and screwed up, nothing can lower the heights of Weeknd’s tenor or dim the brightness of his audio legacy.
Score : 4/5
Listen Here:
https://audiomack.com/chopstars/album/purple-dawn-fm-chopnotslop-remix?referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thefader.com%2F
PURPLE DAWN FM (CHOPNOTSLOP REMIX) BY DJ CANDLESTICK.
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