​The Weeknd says he wants to "kill off" The Weeknd alias

The Weeknd, real name Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, has revealed that he wants to “kill off” his current music project as The Weeknd and start fresh.

Ahead of the release of the controversial new HBO series The Idol featuring Tesfaye and Lily-Rose Depp, the pair spoke to W Magazine about their on-screen and off-screen personas.

Tesfaye explained that he experienced a “kind of breakdown” when switching between his on-screen character Tedros, and his The Weeknd character that he created some 12 years ago at the beginning of his music career.

Read this next: The Weeknd responds to criticism of The Idol following Rolling Stone exposé

“I had to take off the Weeknd outfit, put on Tedros’s wig, shoot with Jocelyn, then go back to being The Weeknd,” he told W Magazine. “It was tough to go from one head to another.”

He explained that he’s “going through a cathartic path” following the series’ wrap, and is now “getting ready to close the Weeknd chapter”.

“I’ll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as The Weeknd,” he said. “But I still want to kill The Weeknd. And I will. Eventually. I’m definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn.”

Read this next: Track featuring AI-generated voices from Drake and The Weeknd goes viral

The next album from The Weeknd could be the last part of a 12-year project, Tesfaye confirmed in the interview, which currently remains in the works with no set release date.

Tesfaye revealed some details about the forthcoming album, explaining that it’s heavily influenced by “visuals”, incorporating elements of film.

“The album I’m working on now is probably my last hurrah as The Weeknd,” he told W. “This is something that I have to do. As The Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say.”

[Via W Magazine]

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter