Between openly sampling a number of Japanese anime and music on his albums to his very recent, very public fumbling of Tae Takemi as a love interest in his playthrough of Persona 5, Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye has never been coy about his nerdier interests. In his most recent trip to Japan he managed to enjoy a dream opportunity to meet the Persona team, NieR creator Yoko Taro, and he even had the chance to meet with legendary Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano. During that meeting the 74-year-old artist handed The Weeknd a unique portrait as a gift, in what has now turned out to be a teaser for a slate of reimagined album covers for a collection of all-new releases of the musician’s albums for the Japanese market.
Currently, The Weeknd is taking a break from his gaming exploits to embark on his After Hours Til Dawn world tour, with its latest stops in Asia bringing him to the region for the first time in 7 years. Ahead of his upcoming performances in Japan next month, four of the albums serving as a basis for this tour have been reimagined with newly designed covers that bring the worlds of these two creatives together. These specially-designed editions of After Hours, Dawn FM, The Idol and Hurry Up Tomorrow by Yoshitaka Amano will also feature additional bonus songs, notably including an all-new recording of the song Out of Time featuring Tomoko Aran. The city pop musician’s 1983 song Midnight Pretenders was heavily sampled by the artist for the song, and the pair were spotted together on that same trip to Japan in June of this year.
“Amano greatly influenced my work since I was a teenager, with his Final Fantasy, Vampire Hunter D, and most of all Angel’s Egg work changing my perspective on anime and movies, and even how I listen to music. A friendship that started with a self-portrait gift has led to this collaboration, and I’m happy everyone can feel the world of my music through Amano’s eyes,” notes The Weeknd of the collaboration.
The last few months has seen The Weeknd channel his love of Japanese games and music into a slew of dream meetings and collaborations, manifesting a chance to see his favorite games early and now partner with the creators who inspired him. Everything has come full circle. The albums will be sold in Japanese CD shops and a special pop-up event in the Universal Music Store in Harajuku from September 11th. Let’s just hope those beautifully-designed physical releases aren’t too limited.