Timeless by The Weeknd Feat. Playboi Carti | Song Review
The Weeknd teams up with Playboi Carti for the second single off of Hurry Up Tomorrow
Listen to Timeless: Apple Music | Spotify
After giving fans a preview at his performance in São Paulo a few weeks ago, The Weeknd has officialy dropped “Timeless”, The second single from his upcoming album Hurry Up Tomorrow. While the album still has no confirmed release date, Abel has been slowly rolling out this new era since this summer, and the chances of the album coming out in the next few months are getting stronger.
Whereas the first single “Dancing In The Flames” was your standard pop affair from Abel, “Timeless” sees the Toronto crooner dabble into trap music. Stylistically it’s a strong deviation from the former single, but gives listeners an idea of what they could expect on Hurry Up Tomorrow.
Teaming up with producers Mike Dean and Pharrell Williams, they help Abel in crafting a beat that would’ve fit perfectly on an album like Starboy. Both producers’ nuances can be heard throughout the track. You get Mike Dean’s airy synths and Pharrell’s bouncing bass intertwining, and they work quite well. It doesn’t sound as formulaic when compared to the production on “Dancing In The Flames”, whose style felt predictable in my opinion.
Performance wise, Playboi Carti and The Weeknd sound pretty good together. Unlike last year’s “Popular”, Carti actually has a full verse this time on “Timeless”. Switching between his regular voice and his baby voice, Carti raps about riches and his come up. Referencing his album Die Lit and pouring up in his cup. He flows well with the instrumental as its more in his lane of rap so this was expected.
The Weeknd however, taps into his braggadocio, “King of the Fall” aura that fits the song perfectly. He gives a shoutout to XO, he talks about selling out shows when he comes back home to Toronto: (“Oh, city on fire when I’m comin’ home. Fill up the sky, I fill up the Dome.”). On the chorus, he reminds listeners he’s been legit since he was a child, and that no matter what he will always remain timeless (just like the song title!). Both his verse and the chorus are quite catchy, his voice and ad-libs on “Timeless” sound amazing as his signature falsetto shines throughout.
“Timeless” does have its faults. Mainly with the production as I found the beat to be kind of basic. Especially when considering what Mike Dean and Pharrell are capable of, I found that they were holding back just a bit on the production side. It’s not bad by any means, but it’s nothing inherently special or different from another trap/cloud rap track you may have heard.
Overall though, I was pleased with “Timeless”. As the second single from Hurry Up Tomorrow I’m a bit glad it wasn’t another synth-pop track like “Dancing In The Flames”. If anything though, these two singles do give off the idea that the full album might be an amalgamation of different sounds (The Anitta assisted track “São Paulo” also confirms this theory.). If this is the case, then Hurry Up Tomorrow could be even more expansive and diverse than we think.
For my final rating, I’m giving “Timeless” a 7.5 to 8/10. It’s another single to tide fans over as they wait for the full album. The song is bouncy and shows off a side of Abel we haven’t heard from in a while. Carti delivers a solid verse that flows well with the song’s beat. Despite it being nothing to go crazy for, it’s good to see The Weeknd dabble in to trap again.
Final Rating: 7.5 to 8/10
