The Weeknd Releases A Violent Music Video For ‘False Alarm’

The Weeknd released the single “False Alarm” two weeks ago as second single for his forthcoming album Starboy. He previously took to Twitter to tease the violent graphic content featured in the song’s music video, which was unveiled Friday.

The R&B singer premiered “False Alarm” just before appearing on the Saturday Night Live season opener as the musical guest. The six-minute video was directed by Ilya Naishuller, known for her action film Hardcore Henry. On Thursday, the Canadian singer posted on Instagram the spooky skull-laden poster for the song’s video.

A parental advisory disclaimer warning flashes during the first few seconds of the video. The clip plays out like a first-person shooter game. Viewers are thrust into the lead character’s point of view. “False Alarm” ends with the unsurprisingly revelation that viewers were watching from the singer perspective the whole time.

This sort of theme is not new from the singer: the music videos for “The Hills,” “Tell Your Friends” and more recently “Starboy,” find inspiration in savage stories, where The Weeknd confronts his own sins. One fan theory suggests that each of the videos are connected and show the descent into hell of the singer.

Starboy, the follow-up to The Weeknd’s 2015 album Beauty Behind the Madness, is slated for a Nov. 25th release