The Singles Jukebox

For your holiday, have some Weeknd…

[Video]
[3.43]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: These lyrics are so juvenile and posturing that it seriously feels like someone at The Onion wrote them. Post Malone and The Weeknd are capable of great work individually, but boy does this fall so unceremoniously on its face. 
[2]

Nortey Dowuona: The Weeknd clearly cannot miss a goddamn thing. Everything I’ve heard from him since After Hours has been fantastic. The loping, circling bass and smooth disco drums make this just another fantastic Weeknd pop jam. But then again, Post Malone does need someone to make him pop, so here comes the Weeknd to do him a favor. But the Weeknd does have Rosalía coming over and Swedish House Mafia right now, so he don’t care.
[7]

Thomas Inskeep: There aren’t many popstars who seem to hate women as much as these two, as evidenced in neon by this piece of shit record. If you take any of this as biography, Posty and Abel are some really loathsome creeps. (And no, I can’t ignore the lyrics — nor should I.)
[0]

Harlan Talib Ockey: How am I supposed to parse this? “One Right Now” seems to exist in this bizarre tonally ambivalent space where although the verses do sound like a genuinely unbothered kiss-off, the choruses are clearly barely repressed seething. On an intellectual level, it’s fascinating, but I’m more inclined to study it like a bug than sing along. Post and Tesfaye are a great match texturally, and the harmonies are delightfully crunchy; however, they’re either singing as the same narrator or two dudes in remarkably similar situations, so it never quite feels like they’re actually interacting. I can’t condemn this as just empty #crosspromotion #marketing, because those harmonies really are effective, but it’s slightly too sterile, a missed opportunity. The production… I don’t know, man. There’s this late ’80s Yamaha synth preset. It gets loud when it’s supposed to. It gets quiet when it’s supposed to. The strangest thing about it — great, we’re back here again — is why it sounds so damn happy. The main synth riff is blatantly reliant on the major scale, there’s a hint of shouted group vocals in the second chorus… it feels like this is intended as an airy, good-vibes arena shaker. Which is neither of the moods emanating from the lyrics. This is a song I would enjoy ranting about on a long car ride, and I certainly don’t think any of the elements in it are bad, and yet I’m not convinced they should exist in the same song together.
[4]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: If you’re two titans of pop industry with the capacity to reshape the charts in your image etc etc why would you use this power to do something so boring? At least Drake gets really tacky sometimes. This is just empty space.
[3]

Edward Okulicz: Having realised that, used appropriately, The Weeknd’s voice and general thing is like a sound effect I’ve got used to, I’ve also realised that Post Malone is just like something I’m never going to like the taste of. I don’t ever do “points off for the video” but on this occasion I want to.
[4]

Michael Hong: You and Post Malone are in the bathroom at a party while a club track by the Weeknd plays.
[4]