The Idol promotional image.
HBO
The much-hyped The Idol premiered on HBO this week, revealing a curious mixture of music industry satire and less successful eoritc thriller homage. The show is centered around Lily-Rose Depp's Jocelyn, a pop star whose lack of control in life drives her into the arms of a mysterious club owner Tedros (played by The Weeknd a.k.a. Abel Tesfaye). Throughout the pilot episode Jocelyn's song "I'm A Freak" is played as both evidence of her pop superstardom and, in Tedros' view, that her singing lacks a certain conviction.
Today "I'm A Freak," alongside another Jocelyn song titled "World Class Sinner," have hit streaming. The Weeknd explained his decision to drop the tracks (alongside theme music "The Lure") saying he will roll out new music every week the show in on air.
"I was planning on dropping the whole soundtrack for idol by the finale, but I’m too hyped,” he wrote on Instagram. “Instead, I wanna drop new music from the show every week with each episode. I’m excited for you guys to hear what we’ve been cooking and all these incredible artists that are a part of this show…this week… Jocelyn’s pop song ‘World Class Sinner’ and ‘The Lure’ (theme score)… episode 2 this Sunday 😈”
Soundtrack album, The Idol, Vol. 1, is due out on June 30. The Weeknd has previously shared "Double Fantasy" and "Popular," a collaboration with Madonna and Playboi Carti produced by Mike Dean, and Metro Boomin
