SZNZ: Spring
SZNZ: Spring | |||||
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EP by Weezer | |||||
Released | March 20, 2022 (digital) April 29, 2022 (CD) February 2023 (vinyl) |
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Format | digital, CD, vinyl | ||||
Recorded | October 2021-February 2022 | ||||
Length | 20:54 (Digital, CD) 23:53 (Vinyl) |
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Label | Crush Music/Atlantic Records | ||||
Producer(s) | Jake Sinclair, Ethan Gruska, Suzy Shinn | ||||
Professional reviews | |||||
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Metascore | 63 | ||||
Weezer chronology | |||||
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Singles from SZNZ: Spring | |||||
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SZNZ: Spring is the first (of four) in the SZNZ series of EPs by Weezer. It was released on March 20, 2022 by Crush Music. The album was produced by Weezer's frequent collaborators Jake Sinclair and Suzy Shinn, as well as new collaborator Ethan Gruska.
Overview
- See SZNZ
The SZNZ concept was first mentioned by Rivers Cuomo in an interview with i in January of 2021.[1] Cuomo stated that he wanted the Spring album to feature a "Happy, chill, stress-free" theme, later expressing a desire for an "acoustic, breezy" song in a similar vein to "Island in the Sun." [2][3][4][5]
Early in the planning stages for SZNZ [date?], Cuomo expressed intent to work with OK Human arranger and conductor Rob Mathes, as well as what Cuomo described as "[their] own version of the Wrecking Crew,"[6] though this idea was later scrapped.[7]
On February 2, 2022, Cuomo shared a Google spreadsheet with fans which included the release dates, possible producers, planned tone, and planned singles for each EP.[5] On February 27, Cuomo uploaded a video to his TikTok account utilizing a snippet of the lead single "A Little Bit of Love," in hopes of promoting the song.[8] On March 11, the band confirmed March 20 as the release date of Spring through social media with "A Little Bit of Love" releasing on March 16.[9]
On March 16, Cuomo used his game, Weezle (a Weezer-themed spin on the popular web game Wordle), to preview snippets of the forthcoming Spring songs.[10] On the same day, the album and its respective merchandise was listed for pre-order on weezer.com. An "Emerald Green"-colored vinyl was made available exclusively for members of the Weezer Fan Club.
On March 20, the record was released digitally. CD copies of the EP began appearing at retail as early as April 23.[11] Upon seeing the final packaging design, Rivers Cuomo expressed skepticism about whether the CD was an official product.[12]
Reception
Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, assigned the album an average score of 63 based on 7 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[13]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Rivers Cuomo, except where noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Opening Night" | 2:27 | |
2. | "Angels on Vacation" | 3:25 | |
3. | "A Little Bit of Love" | Cuomo, Dave Gibson, Jax, Wayne Wilkins | 2:44 |
4. | "The Garden of Eden" | 3:15 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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5. | "The Sound of Drums" | 3:16 | |
6. | "All This Love" | Cuomo, Patrick Wilson | 2:50 |
7. | "Across the Meadow" (vinyl-only) | 2:59 | |
8. | "Wild at Heart" | 2:54 | |
Total length: | 23:53 |
Songs previously in contention
Personnel
- Rivers Cuomo - lead vocals, backing vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, writer
- Brian Bell - backing vocals, guitar, lead guitar
- Scott Shriner - backing vocals, bass
- Patrick Wilson - drums, writer (track 6)
- Ethan Gruska - producer
- Jake Sinclair - producer
- Suzy Shinn - producer
- Sejo Navajas - assistant engineer
- JC LeResche - engineer
- Jason Hiller - engineer
- Rachel White - engineer
- Rouble Kapoor - engineer
- Bernie Grundman - mastering
- Rob Kinelski - mixing (track 3)
- John Sinclair - mixing (tracks 1, 2, 4—7)
Gallery
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A promotional photo of the band (dressed in the seasonal look) used on their music streaming and social media profiles. Photo taken by Brendan Walter.
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A promotional banner used by Weezer's social media accounts.
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The backside of the CD for the record.
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A behind-the-scenes photo from the Spring photoshoot posted by Rivers Cuomo to his Discord server.[date?]
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A promotional letter sent out on March 14 with an artificial rabbit's foot. The letter does not use the final spelling for SZNZ.
See also
References
- ↑ Goggins, Joe. "Weezer: ‘Our fans don’t seem to age out. We must be doing something right’" i. 21 January 2022. https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/weezer-ok-human-van-weezer-new-album-rivers-cuomo-838914
- ↑ Eastoe, Dillon. "Weezer: "I'm very anxious right now about what it means to be human" Upset. 29 January 2021. https://www.upsetmagazine.com/features/weezer-interview-feb21
- ↑ "Rivers Cuomo Song List (Public)" Google Sheets Archived on Wayback Machine, 30 January 2021: https://web.archive.org/web/20210130184003/https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZYghbmvTreCO5JPI9AEN-iLwnE7VYqoUW4MrO-Znr98/edit#gid=966375241 Archived from the original: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZYghbmvTreCO5JPI9AEN-iLwnE7VYqoUW4MrO-Znr98/edit#gid=966375241
- ↑ File:Sznz_google_doc.png
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "weezer: SZNZ" Google Sheets. Archived by Wayback Machine on 17 February 2022: https://web.archive.org/web/20220217022151/https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BGWLEmZohpOPaLBPe132FMrHvSgyw8PHt8k93AmZ0kQ/edit#gid=0 Archived from the original: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BGWLEmZohpOPaLBPe132FMrHvSgyw8PHt8k93AmZ0kQ/edit#gid=0
- ↑ Rivers Cuomo, Riverchat [date?] File:Wrecking_crew_mention.png
- ↑ Geewiz "sznz hypé thread (@DAN ask Rivers about the Wilson cover he did I want to listen to it)" All Things Weezer 18 August 2021. https://allthingsweezer.com/index.php?threads/sznz-hyp%C3%A9-thread-dan-ask-rivers-about-the-wilson-cover-he-did-i-want-to-listen-to-it.57283/page-142#post-2008505 Screenshot: File:Wrecking_crew_out.png
- ↑ "Mr. Rivers' Discord" Discord. 6 January 2022. Screenshot: File:Discord-rivers-tiktokpowerful.png
- ↑ @weezer "This year we’re releasing 4 EPs inspired by magic, Pagan myths, religious rituals, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, Shakespeare & more (so much more). Each one will take you on an enchanting journey. The first of the four EPs, SZNZ: Spring is coming out on the Spring Equinox, 3/20." Twitter 11 March 2022. https://twitter.com/Weezer/status/1502313540044079104
- ↑ @RiversCuomo "For the next few days, Weezle will be featuring songs from our upcoming album, SZNZ: Spring. I know it will be hard to guess the words to songs you don't know, but the reward will be that much sweeter. https://weezle.web.app" Twitter. 16 March 2022. https://twitter.com/RiversCuomo/status/1504277581599707136
- ↑ Louis, Albert. Weezer Fan Club. Facebook. 23 April 2022. https://www.weezerpedia.com/wiki/File:Fan_Club_Facebook_Spring_CD.jpeg
- ↑ Cuomo, Rivers. Discord. 24 April 2022. File:RC_Spring_CD_question.jpg
- ↑ "SZNZ: Spring [EP] by Weezer" Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/music/sznz-spring-ep/weezer
- ↑ Cuomo, Rivers. Mister Rivers' Neighborhood. Archived by Wayback Machine, 2 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210602220254/https://books-r-fun.herokuapp.com/wiki/SZNS
- ↑ High as a Kite. All Things Weezer. 12 October 2020. File:Haak_10122020.png
- ↑ Cuomo, Rivers. Mister Rivers' Neighborhood. Archived by Wayback Machine, 15 July 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210715183313/https://books-r-fun.herokuapp.com/wiki/SZNS