Weezer have released the final installment of their year-long ‘SZNZ’ EP project – ‘SZNZ: Winter.’ The band released the EP’s first song, ‘I Want A Dog,’ earlier this month, in addition to playing the track on Jimmy Kimmel Live for the last date of their seasonal residency on the show. The EP also arrives alongside a new music video for ‘Dark Enough to See the Stars,’ which can be seen now below.
‘SZNZ: Winter’ was initially meant to be a stripped-back, acoustic-leaning body of work that evolved as it was created with producers Suzy Shinn and James Flanigan into an amalgamation of everything Weezer fans have loved from the band’s current decade of work. Songs like ‘Basketball,’ and ‘The One That Got Away’ sonically fit next to songs from 2106’s ‘Weezer (The White Album),’ while tracks like ‘Iambic Pentameter’ and ‘The Deep and Dreamless Sleep’ recall the sprawling elements and crunchy guitar sounds of 2014’s ‘Everything Will Be Alright In The End.’
Songs like ‘Sheraton Commander’ pull on elements from 2021’s celebrated ‘OK Human’ with flourishes of orchestration. Guitarmonies abound throughout the seven-song collection, bringing moments of 2021’s ‘Van Weezer’ to the forefront. Throughout it all remains frontman Rivers Cuomo’s incredible voice and melodies acting as a lodestar for whatever turns the songs themselves take.
‘SZNZ: Winter,’ along with the other three EP’s released this year – ‘SZNZ: Autumn,’ ‘SZNZ: Spring,’ and ‘SZNZ: Summer’ – ultimately creates a spectacular whole in bringing the ‘SZNZ’ project to a close. When listening to all four in a row, it’s undeniable that the ‘SZNZ’ project, which saw the band stretching themselves to record and release the EPs in real time, features some of the most inspired, inventive songs within the Weezer discography.
‘SZNZ: Winter’ tracklist:
1. I Want a Dog
2. Iambic Pentameter
3. Basketball
4. Sheraton Commander
5. Dark Enough to See the Stars
6. The One That Got Away
7. The Deep and Dreamless Sleep