According to Pitchfork, Canadian singer-songwriter The Weeknd has dropped the music video for “groovy” new single titled “Take My Breath.” The Max Martin-produced track serves as the lead single to his upcoming fifth studio album.

The “flashy” visual for the song features The Weeknd at a party with strobing lights where he meets a woman who ends up brutalizing him. The video additionally includes shots of the pair dancing together and provides BDSM vibes that juxtapose the sonics of the song. Pitchfork reports that the video was originally planned to be shown in IMAX theaters before screenings of The Suicide Squad. However, the strobe lighting raised concerns over potential seizures for movie-goers and were ultimately cut from the film’s previews. 

The Weeknd sings the lyrics “Want me to hold onto you tight / You pull me closer, feel the heat between your thighs / You’re way too young to end your life” in the second verse. Thematically, the song channels the sentiments of sex and darkness like 2015’s “In The Night.” However, the song takes a more uplifting and groovy route in terms of its sound that may draw comparisons to previous releases like “In Your Eyes” and the Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit “Blinding Lights” off of his 2020 album, After Hours. 

The track was co-written by The Weeknd himself along with past collaborators, pop legend Max Martin, fellow Canadian rapper Belly and Swedish music producer Oscar Holter. He initially teased the song back on August 2 with a snippet of the song with a video of a sunset in the background before announcing the date of the release during the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. 

 

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“Take My Breath” is out now.

Photo credit: Raymond Flotat