NEWS
The Weeknd
Courtesy of Republic RecordsThe Weeknd has announced that his new album, Dawn FM, will be released on Friday (Jan. 7).
The once-underground R&B singer-songwriter, born Abel Tesfaye, took to social media on Monday to share the news of his forthcoming release. “New album : dawn FM // january 7th,” he captioned a cryptic video teaser with snippets of new music.
Billed as “A new sonic universe from the mind of The Weeknd,” Dawn FM will feature collaborations in some form with Quincy Jones, Tyler, the Creator, Lil Wayne, Oneohtrix Point Never and actor Jim Carrey. Further details about the guests were not provided.
The moody minute-long trailer begins with what appears to be The Weeknd crashing an automobile and being carried away by mysterious hooded figures. From there, viewers see a much older version of the singer looking around in confusion, followed by a stunning image of a blue light shooting out from his head. The clip closes with a radio DJ announcing, “You are now listening to 103.5: Dawn FM. You’ve been in the dark for way too long, it’s time to walk into the light and accept your fate with open arms.”
Dawn FM is the follow-up to The Weeknd’s fourth album, After Hours, which debuted atop the Billboard 200 in March 2020. The set featured the record-breaking single “Blinding Lights,” which recently became the top Billboard Hot 100 song of all time, surpassing Chubby Checker‘s “The Twist.”
The Weeknd — who was named Billboard‘s No. 5 Greatest Pop Star of 2021 — has been keeping busy with his musical endeavors as of late. In August, he gave a first taste of his next album with the disco-infused “Take My Breath.” Since then, he’s shared team-ups with Rosalía (“La Fama”), Post Malone (“One Right Now”), FKA Twigs (“Tears in the Club”) and Aaliyah (“Poison”).
During an October episode of his Apple Music 1 radio show Memento Mori, The Weeknd revealed that his forthcoming album was finished. “Only thing that’s missing is a couple of characters who are key to the narrative — some people that are near and dear to me, some people that inspired my life as a child and some that inspire me now,” the artist teased.
Watch the trailer for The Weeknd’s Dawn FM below.
NEWS
Live from London, it is Saturday Night Live.
The legendary sketch comedy institution officially launched its UK edition on March 21 with Saturday Night Live UK, featuring former SNL cast member Tina Fey as host and British indie rock group Wet Leg as the episode’s musical guest.
This global expansion of Lorne Michaels’ famous NBC program began with Fey’s opening monologue, which included unexpected cameos from Michael Cera and UK television personality Graham Norton.
“It’s an absolute honour and kind of historic,” Fey told the crowd. “Guys, I am the youngest person to ever host SNL UK!”
During the broadcast, Wet Leg delivered performances of two songs taken from their second album Moisturizer, which opened at Number 6 on Billboard’s Top Rock and Alternative Albums chart and also climbed to Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart in the United Kingdom.
The band first appeared performing the record’s fourth single “Mangetout,” a Grammy nominated song that also earned a place on Billboard’s list of the 20 best UK and Ireland songs of 2025. Later in the show they returned to play the album’s lead single “Catch These Fists.”
After their appearance on SNL UK, Wet Leg will travel back to the United States for a series of major festival dates including Coachella, Governors Ball, Bonnaroo and Outside Lands. Their US tour is scheduled to begin April 15 at the Fox Theater in Pomona, California.
Upcoming episodes of SNL UK have also been confirmed. Wolf Alice will serve as musical guest on the March 28 episode hosted by Jamie Dornan, while Kasabian will perform on the April 2 show with Riz Ahmed as host.
The show is broadcast on Sky in the United Kingdom and is available to stream on Peacock in the United States. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the first episode attracted more than 220,000 viewers on Sky. It was released in the US on March 22 via Peacock.
You can watch Wet Leg’s SNL UK performances below.
