Repeat After Me (Interlude)

"Repeat After Me (Interlude)"
Song by the Weeknd
from the album After Hours
ReleasedMarch 20, 2020 (2020-03-20)
Studio
  • Republic Studios (Los Angeles, California)
GenreR&B
Length3:15
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Audio
"Repeat After Me (Interlude)" on YouTube

"Repeat After Me (Interlude)" is a song by the Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd from his fourth studio album After Hours (2020), featuring vocals from the Australian musician Kevin Parker. The song was written by the Weeknd, along with its producers Oneohtrix Point Never and Parker. It was released on March 20, 2020, alongside the rest of its parent album.

Background and composition

The Australian musician Kevin Parker has hidden vocals in the song's intro.

The Weeknd revealed the tracklist for its parent album, After Hours on March 17, 2020, with "Repeat After Me (Interlude)" shown as the album's twelfth track.[1] It was then released on March 20, 2020, alongside the rest of its parent album.

An interlude between the album's first eleven tracks and the two darker closing tracks that follow (which are its title track and Until I Bleed Out), the song is primarily a R&B track with elements of trap.[2] The lyrics of "Repeat After Me" are summarized to "you love me, not him" by Pitchfork, with its sound being described by Rolling Stone as a "wounded power ballad overlaid with spacey bubble-prog keyboards."[3][4] The song's intro features garbled vocals from the Australian musician Kevin Parker, who is one of the song's producers.[5]

Critical reception

Critics complimented the song's sound upon release, with Billboard ranking "Repeat After Me (Interlude)" as the eleventh best song from After Hours, calling some lines such as "you don't love him if you're thinking of me," as "tweet worthy", and later stating that although trap occasionally feels like a crutch in Tesfaye's music, that this particular hip-hop transition is welcome, citing the continuation of infusing "airy, experimental sound."[6] In a review of the song, Pitchfork called its lyrics "typical Weeknd fare—you love me, not him", but praised Tesfaye's vocals, citing its delicateness, and stating how his words leave a "wistful, transient impression". Pitchfork would later praise Parker's production, stating the song "[displays] Parker's palette, replete with an audible, Tame Impala—like electronic squiggle or two."[3]

MTV would call "Repeat After Me (Interlude)" Parker's seventh best collab, calling the track "textbook Tame Impala" and citing how "satisfying" it is to hear Tesfaye's vocals over the instrumental.[5]

Commercial performance

Like all of the other tracks from After Hours, "Repeat After Me (Interlude)" charted at number 69 on the US Billboard Hot 100 issue dated April 4, 2020. It was the second lowest charting track from the album, above the closing track, "Until I Bleed Out".[7]

Personnel

  • The Weeknd – vocals, songwriting
  • Kevin Parker – vocals, songwriting, production
  • Daniel Lopatin – songwriting, production
  • Shin Kamiyama – engineering
  • Matt Cohn – engineering, mixing
  • Dave Kutch – mastering
  • Kevin Peterson – mastering

Charts

Chart (2020) Peak
position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[8] 62
France (SNEP)[9] 130
Lithuania (AGATA)[10] 49
Portugal (AFP)[11] 81
Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[12] 8
UK Audio Streaming (OCC)[13] 96
US Billboard Hot 100[14] 69
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[15] 32
US Rolling Stone Top 100[16] 31

Release history

Region Date Format Label(s) Ref.
Various March 20, 2020
[17]

References

  1. ^ "The Weeknd shares tracklist for new album 'After Hours'". NME. March 18, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  2. ^ Mamo, Heran (March 20, 2020). "What's Your Favorite Song From The Weeknd's 'After Hours'? Vote!". Billboard. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "The Weeknd: "Repeat After Me (Interlude)" Track Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  4. ^ Dolan, Jon (March 23, 2020). "The Weeknd Is Alone Again, Naturally, on 'After Hours'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Tame Impala Best Collaborations, Ranked". MTV. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  6. ^ "Every Song Ranked on The Weeknd's After Hours: Critic's Picks". Billboard. March 20, 2020. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
  7. ^ Zellener, Xander (March 30, 2020). "Every Song From The Weeknd's After Hours Is on the Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  8. ^ "The Weeknd Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  9. ^ "The Weeknd – Repeat After Me" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  10. ^ "2020 13-os savaitės klausomiausi (TOP 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
  11. ^ "The Weeknd – Escape from LA". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  12. ^ "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 13". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  13. ^ "Official Audio Streaming Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  14. ^ "The Weeknd Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  15. ^ "The Weeknd Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  16. ^ "Top 100 Songs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  17. ^ "Listen to the Weeknd's New Album After Hours". Pitchfork. March 20, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2020.