In the Night (song)


"In the Night" is a song by the Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd, from his second studio album, Beauty Behind the Madness. The song was written by the Weeknd, Max Martin, Ali Payami, Savan Kotecha, Peter Svensson, and Belly. Martin and Payami produced the song with co-production from the Weeknd. The song was serviced to contemporary hit radio through XO and Republic Records on November 17, 2015, as the album's fourth single.

Background and release

In 2013, the Weeknd released his debut studio album, Kiss Land. Following its commercial underperformance, the Weeknd approached the head of urban A&R for Republic Records, Wendy Goldstein, for advice. Goldstein arranged for him to feature on the American singer Ariana Grande's 2014 song, "Love Me Harder". With the song, the Weeknd secured the services of Swedish producer Max Martin for his second studio album. The producer presented him with pre-written material, which the Weeknd rejected, choosing to write songs from scratch. "In the Night" was the first song the two wrote.
"In the Night" and two other songs by the Weeknd leaked on May 26, 2015. On August 4, the track list for Beauty Behind the Madness was revealed; "In the Night" appeared as the tenth track. On October 17, Rolling Stone reported that the song would be the next single from Beauty Behind the Madness. The song was serviced to contemporary hit radio on November 17, as the album's fourth single. Nearly five years after its release, on April 6, 2020, it was serviced to hot and modern adult contemporary radio stations.

Composition and production

"In the Night" was written by the Weeknd, Belly, Martin, Savan Kotecha, Peter Svensson, and Ali Payami. Production was handled by Martin and Payami, with co-production from the Weeknd. Payami played live drums, synthesizers, keys, and bass, and provided programming for the song with additional contributions from Martin. At MXM Studios in Los Angeles, California, and Wolf Cousins Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, Sam Holland engineered the track with assistance from Cory Rice and Jeremy Lertola. It was mixed at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach by Serban Ghenea, with John Hanes serving as mixing engineer. The track was mastered by Tom Coyne at Sterling Sound in New York City.
"In the Night" is a disco track. The song's sheet music shows a composition of A minor in compound meter at a moderate tempo of 112 beats per minute. The vocals span from E3 to D5. Lyrically, "In the Night" details the story of a woman who is a victim of sexual abuse.

Critical reception

The song was well received by critics. Like the Weeknd's previous collaboration with Max Martin, "Can't Feel My Face", it has been widely compared to works by Michael Jackson. Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone wrote "Sometimes, the album stirs up real drama. 'In the Night' could be just one more 'Dirty Diana'-style ode to a predatory babe — until we learn the woman in the song is the victim of abuse, 'dancing to relieve the pain.'" Harley Brown of Spin wrote that the song "comes the closest to the wall-scaling studio and automobile airwave euphoria of 'Can't Feel My Face', ratcheting up to background synths on the scope of '80s spectacles like 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World.'" He adds, "The real star here is, as usual, his voice, tapping at the uppermost fragile glass of his register without quite breaking it".

Music video

The song's music video, directed by BRTHR, was released on December 8, 2015, and features the Weeknd's then-girlfriend, model Bella Hadid. It depicts Hadid as a waitress at a seedy nightclub of dancers frequented by dangerous gangsters. The leading gangster takes a particular liking to the waitress, as the Weeknd watches helplessly as she and the dancers are being taken advantage of by gangsters. The clip grows increasingly disorienting, building to a chaotic sequence in which the waitress and her fellow dancers finally kill off the gangsters. The leading gangster, however, tracks down the Weeknd in the final scene, placing a gun to his head — but is saved by who appears to be the waitress, who kills the gangster, before the two ride off on a motorcycle. The video ends with the dancers dragging a gangster's corpse into a sea, with shaky camera footage, as the screen goes to black. A shortened version of the video was released on February 14, 2016.