Song Challenge 6: A Song That Makes You Want to Dance

I'm pretty excited for this one. Day 6 in the song challenge is "A song that makes you want to dance."

I didn't have to think much about this one. Even though I can't dance at all, I still know what I wish I could dance to, and right now, the main one is this:

I know the official video has that moment where it gets a little distorted, so if for some reason you've never heard this song before (WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN), here's The Weeknd's official audio version, completely intact.

I've thoroughly enjoyed all of The Weeknd's previous albums, and his latest, After Hours, absolutely does not disappoint. It came out right after I got stuck at home, and I listened to it on repeat for a week straight while my boyfriend was at work (he still has a job, huzzah!), and with headphones when he was home. I think it's his best work so far, and from what I've seen online, I guess actual, paid critics agree. 

Whenever this song comes on the radio (or I find it when channel surfing- I am a terrible channel surfer*), I crank it up and start bobbing around in the driver's seat the way Tesfaye does partway through the video. I can't help it. If I'm at a red light, I start slapping** my thigh to the beat; if I'm not, it's the wheel. 

The layers in this song are intoxicating. The synth hook is the kind of earworm I'm totally ok with having around. The simple but heavy beat begs for some sort of physical reaction (a tap, a nod, something). Tesfaye's voice is as smooth and sexy as ever. I don't even mind the "HEY!"-ing, something I often find a little annoying in songs- it somehow fits here, perhaps because of the excitement this song just kind of engenders. It all adds up to another song that, as the kids say, "slaps."

In other words, this is a fucking good song. And it not only makes me want to dance, it makes me wish I even could. 

One last thing: Honorable Mention goes to the remix of Mike Posner's "I Took a Pill in Ibiza." Both are great, in very different ways, and the remix just hits you in the face once the first chorus ends and it's like DAY-um. I'm just sad they cut the last verse from the remix, but still, it's one of the few club/dance remixes I even tolerate, let alone absolutely adore.

*I'm sorry, Beaux.

**Maybe that's where the "slap" thing came from when it comes to describing good songs?