Dawn FM Release Date: Who Will Be Featured on This Album?

By Sirjan Chetri Last updated Sep 8, 2022

Dawn FM is the Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd’s fifth studio album. On January 7, 2022, it came out through XO and Republic Records.

Jim Carrey narrates the album, and Tyler, the Creator, and Lil Wayne sing and speak on it. Quincy Jones and Josh Safdie also say a few words.

As the album’s executive producers, the Weeknd, Max Martin, and Oneohtrix Point Never chose Oscar Holter, Calvin Harris, and Swedish House Mafia, among others, to work on it.

The album had three singles, and the first one, “Take My Breath,” reached number six on the US Billboard Hot 100. The Weeknd promoted Dawn FM by being a DJ at an Amazon Music event on the day the album came out, where he played the album for a crowd.

He also used a TV music special on Amazon Prime Video to promote the album. The special had live performances, theatre, and performance art for a “night out at the club.”

Dawn FM was number one in more than 10 countries, including Australia, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. It started out on the US Billboard 200 chart at number two.

Table of Contents

Artwork

Matilda Finn took the picture for the standard Dawn FM album cover. It shows the Weeknd as an old man with a beard standing in front of a dark background with a small ray of light coming from behind his shoulder.

The Weeknd’s online store sells collector’s and limited editions of the album. The American artist Robert Beatty, who also made the cover for OPN’s Magic Oneohtrix Point Never, made four different Dawn FM album covers for the collector’s and limited editions. Beatty also made the alternate covers that were only sold at HMV, Target, and indie stores.

Promotion

Singles

The lead single from the album, “Take My Breath,” came out digitally on August 6, 2021, in music stores and on streaming services.

The song reached number six on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the top ten in 21 other countries. It came out at the same time as its music video, which was directed by Clique.

Together with Dawn FM, “Sacrifice” came out as the second official single on January 7, 2022.

Its music video came out the same day, and Clique was in charge of it. Its plot is similar to what happened in the music video for “Take My Breath.” On January 11, 2022, the song was sent to contemporary hit radio stations in the United States.

“Out of Time” is the third official single from the album. It came out on urban adult contemporary radio in the United States on January 25, 2022.

Its music video came out on April 5, 2022, and Clique was in charge of it.

Other Songs

On January 11, 2022, a music video for the second song on the album, “Gasoline,” came out. It continues the storyline set up by the other music videos for the album, which were directed by Matilda Finn.

The song was supposed to be released as the third single from the album on January 18, 2022, but its release was canceled.

“I Heard You’re Married,” which features Lil Wayne, was supposed to be the third single from the album and be sent to American rhythmic contemporary radio on January 11, 2022. However, its release as a single has been put on hold indefinitely.

The third song on the album is called How Do I Make You Love Me?” On July 22, 2022, an animated music video for this song came out. It was led by Jocelyn Charles, and Clique helped with some of the ideas.

Who Will Be Featured on This Album?

In contrast to After Hours, which had no features on its standard version, Dawn FM has a short but impressive list of guest appearances from both longtime collaborators and brand-new faces.

The album’s official trailer says that comedian and actor Jim Carrey, Quincy Jones, Lil Wayne, Oneohtrix Point Never, and Tyler the Creator will all play a part on the album’s musical universe.

Carrey, in particular, is an unexpected new face in The Weeknd’s world, and it’s not clear what role he’ll play on the upcoming album.

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In a GQ interview from 2021, The Weekend said that he met Carrey for the first time at his 30th birthday party, where they talked about telescopes and became friends.

“He lived just like two buildings down from me. He had a telescope, and I had one, too,” he told GQ. “He asked me, ‘Where do you live?’ What floor do you live on? I was like, Blah, blah, blah. And we looked out the windows with our telescopes, and we could see each other.

What Themes Will Dawn FM Cover?

Since it’s The Weeknd, Dawn FM will probably be about his usual topics, like sex, drugs, partying, troubled love stories, and so on. Notably, the album seems to be built around a made-up radio station called 103.5 Dawn FM.

This suggests that the songs will have a deeper thematic and narrative concept, similar to how he built a world and a bloody main character for After Hours.

The short trailer for the album seems to back up this idea, as a man’s voice can be heard saying, “You’ve been in the dark for way too long. It’s time to come out into the light and embrace your fate.” Think of us as there already.