The Weeknd – Less Than Zero

Dawn FM 2022, Max Martin and Holter

On 7 January 2022, The Weeknd released Dawn FM through XO and Republic. Near the end of the tracklist sits Less Than Zero, written by Abel Tesfaye with Max Martin and Oscar Holter. The three produced it with Oneohtrix Point Never. The album frames itself as a late-night radio station; this cut plays like a love song the DJ saves for the last hour. Bright keyboards, clean guitars, and a chorus that states regret without hiding behind metaphor keep the arrangement open and easy to follow.

Tesfaye sings about a relationship he cannot fix and a self-image that stays below zero. Martin and Holter play guitar, keys, and bass and handle programming; Tesfaye stacks his own background vocals. Engineers including Matt Cohn, Sam Holland, and Shin Kamiyama tracked the sessions; Şerban Ghenea mixed; Dave Kutch mastered. What you hear is closer to 1980s synth-pop and new wave than to the darker R&B of earlier Weeknd tapes, which fits the soft-rock and radio-nostalgia palette of Dawn FM after the heavier drama of After Hours.

A lyric video directed by Micah Bickham arrived on 9 January 2022. In July 2022 the song went to French contemporary hit radio as the fourth and final single from the album, after Out of Time in the singles run. Chart peaks included No. 53 on the US Billboard Hot 100, No. 32 on the Canadian Hot 100, No. 24 on the Billboard Global 200, and Top 50 marks in Australia and several European territories. Live, Tesfaye folded the song into the Dawn FM television special and later tour sets as a clear pop centerpiece.