Listen: The Weeknd's "Faith" / "Save Your Tears"

In his latest album After Hours, The Weeknd's Abel Tesfaye trades Starboy's sparkling disco funk for a retro-infused moody introspection that feels like diving into a pool of smooth grooves. The brand of hedonism that Tesfaye endorses is still intact, but he at least acknowledges he is Heartless and there's a tinge of remorse coursing through the veins of the album. Lyrically traversing themes of drug-addled sexual desire (Faith) and failed relationships set against a backdrop of glitzy electronic sounds ("She likes my futuristic sound in my new spaceship/ Futuristic sex, give it Philip K. Dick," he sings on the plush downtempo ballad Snowchild) and synth-leaning melodies (In Your Eyes, Save Your Tears), complete with his falsetto that's on full display in Repeat After Me (Interlude) — a gauzy fare featuring Kevin Parker's signature warbly tones — the soundscape eventually trails off into a dark, smokey swirl of kaleidoscopic energy (After Hours, the title track) that makes the Canadian crooner the perfect poster boy for noir-pop.