SZNZ: Spring

The SZNZ concept was first revealed by Rivers Cuomo in an interview in January 2021.^[9] 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".^[10]

On February 2, 2022, Cuomo shared a Google spreadsheet with fans which included the release dates, possible producers, overall emotion, spirituality tone, planned genre, and planned singles for each of the SZNZ EPs. Spring's emotion was set to be optimistic sorrow.^[11] The spreadsheet also included the band's look and the aesthetic era the clothes and EP are based on. Aesthetically, the band linked SZNZ: Spring to a pre-Christian era with influences from Celts, Paganism, and Wicca.

On March 16, 2022, Weezer released the lead single, "A Little Bit of Love".^[12] 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.^[13]

SZNZ: Spring was officially released on March 20, 2022, the day of the Spring Equinox.

More information Aggregate scores, Source ...

SZNZ: Spring ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	63/100[14]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[15]
The A.V. Club	B−[16]
Exclaim!	5/10[17]
Pitchfork	4.4/10[18]
Riff Magazine	[19]
Rolling Stone	[20]

Close

SZNZ: Spring received generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 63 based on 7 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[14] In a mixed review, Alex Hudson at Exclaim! stated that, while not the worst Weezer album, "it's frustrating to hear them sabotaging their own songs in a futile attempt to pin down the sound of a season. So far, SZNZ feels less like a lofty concept and more like silly gimmick."^[17] Brady Gerber of Pitchfork was more critical, opining "unlike the expensive-sounding and often pretty OK Human—and a rarity for any proper Weezer release—SZNZ sounds cheap." However, Gerber considered the tracks "A Little Bit of Love" and "Wild at Heart" highlights of the album.^[18]

Notes

• "The Sound of Drums" contains portions of the poems, "Back to the River" by Abigail Spinner McBride, and "Air I Am" by Andras Corban-Arthen.
• The vinyl version puts track 7 "Wild at Heart" as track 8, and "Across the Meadow" as track 7 on the tracklist.

Weezer

• Rivers Cuomo – lead vocals, guitars, backing vocals
• Patrick Wilson – drums
• Brian Bell – guitars, backing vocals
• Scott Shriner – bass, backing vocals

Technical

• Ethan Gruska – production
• Suzy Shinn – production
• Jake Sinclair – production
• Rachel White – engineering
• Rouble Kapoor – engineering
• JC LeResche – engineering
• Jason Hiller – engineering
• Sejo Navajas – engineering assistance
• John Sinclair – mixing (all except "A Little Bit of Love")
• Rob Kinelski – mixing on "A Little Bit of Love"
• Eli Heisler – mix assistance on "A Little Bit of Love"
• Bernie Grundman – mastering
• Tension Division – art direction, design