SZNZ

SZNZ (formerly SZNS, pronounced "Seasons") is a musical project by Weezer released throughout 2022. The project is a collection of four short studio records to be released on the first day of each seasonal solstice, with each having its own motif, aesthetic themes, and production style based on the corresponding season.
==Overview==
===Origins===
Rivers Cuomo first mentioned that the band's sixteenth album was in the concept phase on October 31, 2020, alluding to involvement. Said Cuomo on the wall on riverscuomo.com, "Turned in the first draft of the NEXT NEXT NEXT album to Jake".Cuomo, Rivers. Mr. Rivers' Neighborhood. Archived 1 November 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201101214010/https://www.riverscuomo.com/wall
The project, throughout much of 2021, was conceived as a collection of four albums slated to release on the first day of each respective season in 2022."Rivers Cuomo On Weezer's Latest, 'OK Human,' And The Need To Riff (Or Not)" NPR 29 January 2021. https://www.npr.org/2021/01/29/962124558/rivers-cuomo-on-weezers-latest-ok-human-and-the-need-to-riff-or-not The first album, to be released at the beginning of spring, has been described as a "very breezy, carefree acoustic-type album," tentatively titled Happy Chill, and would be more inline with the style of "Island in the Sun".Wood, Mikael. "It’s not ‘Pinkerton.’ But Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo gets pretty emo on ‘OK Human’ " Los Angeles Times. 26 January 2021. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2021-01-26/weezer-rivers-cuomo-ok-human Cuomo has described the winter album concept as conjuring the sound of ’90s singer-songwriters like Elliott Smith with "lots of loss and despair and kind of quiet." He has described the autumn album as reflecting "dance-rock" artists like Franz FerdinandBienstock, Richard. "Weezer have four – yes, four – new albums in the works" Guitar World. 3 February 2021. https://www.guitarworld.com/news/weezer-have-four-yes-four-new-albums-in-the-works or the Strokes.Tenreyro, Tatiana "We didn't ask for a "Strokes-style" Weezer record, but we're getting one anyway" The A.V. Club. 16 July 2021. https://www.avclub.com/we-didnt-ask-for-a-strokes-style-weezer-record-but-w-1847307785
On March 25, 2021, Cuomo uploaded a photo to Instagram of the letters "SZNS" with the caption "2022".Cuomo, Rivers. Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CM2ki-9JVLb/https://www.weezerpedia.com/wiki/File:SZNSInstagram.jpg
===Production===
On April 29, Cuomo told members of Riverchat that the song "Pacific Sunset" had been cut from consideration, though he was still interested in repurposing the bridge. He claimed the song was "not good enough for SZNS" and after a member commented that they appreciated the band's commitment to high standards following OK Human, he replied "We've left [OK Human] in the dust".Cuomo, Rivers. Mister Rivers' Neighborhood 29 April 2021 https://www.weezerpedia.com/wiki/File:SZNS_ps.jpg
On July 9, Cuomo told members of Riverchat that SZNS may not release as he had originally envisioned following a "interesting conversation" with Crush Records founder Jonathan Daniel, later clarifying that he was referring to the format of releasing four albums at the beginning of each season throughout the year, specifically stating he wanted to "avoid the fate" of Green Day's album trilogy ¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré! and Kanye West's seven-song albums. Cuomo, Rivers. Mister Rivers' Neighborhood 9 July 2021 https://www.weezerpedia.com/wiki/File:SZNSRiverchat_7_9_21.jpg The next day, Cuomo confirmed that the release format had indeed changed saying it would be "equal to or greater" than the original format. After expressing excitement for the project and it's cover art, he teased that SZNS could come out "all at once" on January 1, 2022. Cuomo, Rivers. Mister Rivers' Neighborhood 10 July 2021 https://www.weezerpedia.com/wiki/File:SZNS7_10_21.jpg Despite this, Cuomo has since continued to promote the four-album concept, mentioning it to Good Morning America a few weeks later.Good Morning America, "Weezer performs ‘Hero’ | GMA" YouTube. 18 July 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bfhe-DoUmqs&t=116sChilders, Chad. "Weezer Planning Four ‘Seasons’ Albums for 2022" Loudwire. 22 July 2021. https://loudwire.com/weezer-four-seasons-albums-2022/
Cuomo confirmed in September of 2021 that Ethan Gruska would be the co-producer for Spring.Riverpedia archive - 09/22/2021 Cuomo has mentioned the first single, "Records" (from the Summer album), as being slated for release alongside the Spring album.Rivers Cuomo. Discord. 12 October 2021. Screenshot: :File:Mrn-discord-10-12-2021.png
According to Cuomo, each album would consist of eight songs each (for contractual reasons)Rivers Cuomo. Discord. 5 November 2021. Screenshot: :File:Mrn-discord-11-05-2021.png but may be limited to five songs upon initial release with the remaining songs appearing in a possible vinyl box set at the end of the year.Rivers Cuomo. Discord. 1 February 2022. Screenshot: :File:Mrn-discord-02-01-2022.png Though he would later respond to a fan on Twitter, stating that it had been decided that the number of tracks per album would be seven.@riverscuomo "7." Twitter. 11 February 2022. https://twitter.com/RiversCuomo/status/1492273303678898178 Screenshot: :File:Szns-feb1122-7songs.png 
On February 7, Cuomo posted on Twitter to reiterate the planned release dates for each album but added that they had yet to be "confirmed with any record company or manager". @riverscuomo "Here are the SZNS release dates*:Spring: Sunday, March 20Summer: Monday, June 20Fall: Thursday, September 22Winter: Wednesday, December 21*Those should be the first days of the seasons so please correct me if wrong.*Also, not confirmed with any record company or manager." Twitter. 7 February 2022. https://twitter.com/RiversCuomo/status/1490837486926385152 Screenshot: :File:Riverstwt feb722.png
On February 17, Cuomo submitted a possible press release for SZNS explaining the concept and backstory to the albums. Rivers Cuomo. Discord. 17 February 2022. Screenshot: :File:Szns-feb1722-concept.jpg 
He posted the release to his Discord server later that day:
The two angels descend from heaven down to Earth because they're tired of being so prim and proper up in heaven. They find themselves in a magical forest pre-Christian Ireland, in the midst of a circle of Elves, Fairies, and other magical creatures. There they learn of the power of love and self-acceptance, They learn of music, drum circles, flutes, and distorted guitars. They learn to dance.
But all seasons turn and eventually Adam and Eve grow Restless. As summer nears, they leave the forest for their next adventure in the far-off land of Rome, a place of much unrest, where the youth will soon rise up in protest. Yes, there are three seasons more, Each of which will offer its own palette of colors, creators and emotions to explore.
Join Weezer in this work in progress as they explore the Four Seasons in a set of four mini albums.
 
He also stated that they were planning to shoot promo images soon, commenting that he'd have to wear various wigs as all four albums would be having their shoots on the same day. Rivers Cuomo. Discord. 17 February 2022. Screenshot: :File:Szns-feb1722-promoshoot.jpg
On February 24, Cuomo implied that the Summer album would be produced by Daniel "Robopop" Omelio.Cuomo, Rivers "weezer: SNZS" Google Docs. Archived by Wayback Machine, 25 February 2022: https://web.archive.org/web/20220225174348/https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BGWLEmZohpOPaLBPe132FMrHvSgyw8PHt8k93AmZ0kQ/edit from the original: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BGWLEmZohpOPaLBPe132FMrHvSgyw8PHt8k93AmZ0kQ/editRivers Cuomo. Discord. 24 February 2022. Screenshot: :File:Szns-feb2422-robopop.png Omelio previously co-wrote the Weezer song "Hero" from the album Van Weezer. Cuomo has explained that the album may or may not resemble the initial concept.Rivers Cuomo. Discord. 24 February 2022. Screenshot: :File:Szns-feb2422-summer.png
On February 24, he shared a 10 second snippet of the song A Little Bit of Love through Discord. On February 27 he shared the same snippet through Tik Tok featuring a video of him dressed as an Elf, as well as a slideshow with pictures of him and his wife. Rivers Cuomo. TikTok. 27 February 2022. Link: []
On March 1, Cuomo requested via Discord that all instances of the word "Fall" on the SZNS Riverpedia article be replaced with "Autumn." Rivers Cuomo. Discord. 1 March 2022. Screenshot: :File:Szns-mar122-autumn.png On March 7, Cuomo indicated that the project had been renamed SZNZ.Rivers Cuomo. Discord. 7 March 2022. :File:Discord-rivers-sznztitle030722.png
On September 15, Cuomo stated via Discord that the release format of SZNS may be changed, suggesting that the 4 records may be repackaged and remastered alongside the vinyl-exclusive tracks for a full-length album if possible. This release was later cancelled due to high costs and low sales expectations.Koch, Karl (as Karlophone). (July 26, 2024). Weezerpedia Discord server. Archived from the original on Weezerpedia at Weezerpedia Discord Q&A with Karl Koch - July 2024.
===Promotion===
Weezer's social media accounts first teased SZNS on February 2, 2022.@weezer "6 more weeks of winter #szns" Twitter. 2 February 2022. https://twitter.com/Weezer/status/1489013633547911174?s=20&t=4zq82eyS1Najp7qzfBLJkA Screenshot: :File:Twitter-szns-02-02-2022.png
On March 1, the official Weezer YouTube account reposted River's TikTok video featuring a snippet of A Little Bit of Love with the caption: "Before you know it Spring will be here 😏 #SZNS".Weezer. YouTube. 1 March 2022 https://youtu.be/KRwDb0TDR1M
SZNZ was officially announced via Weezer's social media pages on March 11.
===Broadway residency===
On June 21, 2022, the same day as the release of SZNZ: Summer, the band formally announced a five-show residency on Broadway, wherein the band would have performed the one of the four SZNZ EPs in their entirety each night, alongside a selection of Weezer rarities, with a fifth "Encore" night featuring a "best of" selection of songs from the previous nights. The residency was announced alongside the release of SZNZ: Summer on June 21, 2022.Evans, Greg. "Weezer On Broadway: Band Announces Weeklong Fall New York Residency" Deadline. 22 June 2022. https://deadline.com/2022/06/weezer-broadway-residency-1235049941/ On August 10, Rivers Cuomo confirmed on his Discord server that the concert had been cancelled due to low ticket sales and high expenses.Hudson, Alex. "Weezer Cancel Broadway Residency Due to "Low Ticket Sales and Unbelievably High Costs"" Exclaim! 10 August 2022. https://exclaim.ca/music/article/weezer_cancel_broadway_residency_due_to_low_ticket_sales_and_unbelievably_high_costs
===Gallery===
Image:SZNSInstagram.jpg|An Instagram post from Rivers Cuomo showing an early logo design and teasing a 2022 release.
Image:RiversSZNZlogo.jpg|A revised logo concept by Cuomo, featuring the final spelling.
Image:SZNZ-logo.png|The final logo for SZNZ.
==Tracklists==
===SZNZ: Spring===
===SZNZ: Summer===
===SZNZ: Autumn===
===SZNZ: Winter===
==See also==
*Van Weezer
*OK Human
*Jake Sinclair
*Suzy Shinn
==References==
Category:Weezer albums
Category:2022 releasesCategory:SZNZ