The Weeknd confronts old demons in his new animated music video.
This week saw the release of the singer-songwriter’s visual for his song “Snowchild,” in which the pop star takes an animated trip down memory lane — from his bad habits to his instant rise to stardom. Throughout the video, the Starboy looks back on his nightlife of promiscuity with various women and experimenting with drugs and alcohol while crooning of wanting to be delivered from these vices.
Other scenes in the video depict The Weeknd returning to the “House of Balloons,” the actual abode where he once lived and namesake of the R&B artist's 2011 mixtape, and fending off a shape-shifting villainess in an anime-inspired fight scene before culminating with the star encountering his dark alter ego from previous music videos.
The Weeknd lays bare his pain in the opening verse, singing, "I used to pray when I was sixteen/ If I didn't make it, then I'd probably make my wrist bleed/ Not to mislead, turn my nightmares into big dreams … Walking in the snow before I ever made my wrist freeze/ I was blowing smoke, had me dizzy like Gillespie."
Echoing throughout the song is the musician's looming want for freedom, as he sings in the chorus, “Leaving, leaving into the night/ Now a n—a leaving, leaving.”
“Snowchild” is the latest release from The Weeknd’s new album After Hours, which ascended to number-one on the Billboard 200 following its arrival on March 20. The song follows previously-released singles “Heartless,” “Blinding Lights,” and “In Your Eyes.”
Photo: YouTube/The Weeknd