"Repeat After Me (Interlude)" is a song by the Canadian singer-songwriter

the Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...

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 Daniel Lopatin (born July 25, 1982), best known as Oneohtrix Point Never or OPN, is an American Experimental music, experimental electronic music producer, composer, singer, and songwriter. His music has utilized wikt:trope, tropes from various ...

and Parker. It was released on March 20, 2020, alongside the rest of its parent album.

Background and composition

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. It was then released on March 20, 2020, alongside the rest of its parent album. An

interlude Interlude may refer to: *a short play or, in general, any representation between parts of a larger stage production *''Entr'acte'', a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production *a section in a movement of a musical piece, se ...

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. The lyrics of "Repeat After Me" are summarized to "you love me, not him" by ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'', with its sound being described by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' as a "wounded power ballad overlaid with spacey bubble-prog keyboards." The song's intro features garbled vocals from the Australian musician Kevin Parker, who is one of the song's producers.

Critical reception

Critics complimented the song's sound upon release, with ''

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'' 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." 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 " isplaysParker's palette, replete with an audible,

Tame Impala Tame Impala is the psychedelic music project of Australian singer and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker (musician), Kevin Parker. In the recording studio, Parker writes, records, performs, and produces all of the project's music. As a touring a ...

—like electronic squiggle or two." ''

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

'' 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.

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".

Personnel

* The Weeknd – vocals, songwriting * Kevin Parker – vocals, songwriting, production *

Daniel Lopatin Daniel Lopatin (born July 25, 1982), best known as Oneohtrix Point Never or OPN, is an American experimental electronic music producer, composer, singer, and songwriter. His music has utilized tropes from various musical genres and eras, samp ...

– songwriting, production * Shin Kamiyama – engineering * Matt Cohn – engineering, mixing * Dave Kutch – mastering * Kevin Peterson – mastering

Charts

Release history

References

{{The Weeknd songs The Weeknd songs Songs written by the Weeknd 2020 songs Song recordings produced by Kevin Parker (musician) Songs written by Kevin Parker (musician) Songs written by Oneohtrix Point Never