Winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year, the darkness before the dawn. This year, it also marked the December 21 release of Weezer's SZNZ: Winter, the final instalment in the band's SZNZ series (notably inspired by Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, not just the seasons themselves) — and it sounds like Rivers Cuomo is still waiting for the daylight to spill in. The bandleader says he's experiencing "postpartum depression" now that he's birthed the final EP into the world.
In a new interview with Consequence, Cuomo opened up about the fourth instalment of the sprawling seasonal project. When asked how he feels now that the song cycle of sorts has been completed by the "sad, acoustic, Elliott Smith-style" EP, his demeanour was suitably solemn.
"I guess a bit of postpartum depression," Cuomo admitted in a probably undue analogy to a serious mental health condition many experience after giving birth. "This always happens after we finish working on an album, it's really occupied most of my time for the last couple of years. And it's been an incredible joy to work on. And suddenly, now it's over. And it's out of my hands."
He continued, "And it feels premature to just jump into the next one, although I may do that," and it may or may not regrettably be The Kawaii Album. "So I'm kind of in this weird in-between phase where I don't know who I am or what I'm supposed to be doing," the musician said. "So, I'm sorry, I guess that isn't as positive as I should feel right now!"
He's so real for that. The singer-songwriter went on to explain that there was a central emotion behind the band's musical encapsulation of each quarter of the calendar year — "and for winter, it was sadness," Cuomo told journalist Paolo Ragusa. "And so I just kept meditating on sadness. And I guess that manifested as loneliness and a need for companionship and understanding, and feeling like I'm not getting it." Hence the want for a dog?
Onto lighter fare, the musician teased that the band has a "big tour announcement" on the horizon, which will mark their first since the Hella Mega Tour with Fall Out Boy and Green Day.
"And in the 'pure fun' department, we're going to participate in this television tribute to the Beach Boys," Cuomo added. "So we're in the midst of figuring out which Beach Boys songs we want to cover, and oh my God, it's incredibly fun."
Weezer made our recap of the year in music news for the cancellation of their Broadway residency behind the SZNZ project, citing "low ticket sales and unbelievably high expenses."
In a new interview with Consequence, Cuomo opened up about the fourth instalment of the sprawling seasonal project. When asked how he feels now that the song cycle of sorts has been completed by the "sad, acoustic, Elliott Smith-style" EP, his demeanour was suitably solemn.
"I guess a bit of postpartum depression," Cuomo admitted in a probably undue analogy to a serious mental health condition many experience after giving birth. "This always happens after we finish working on an album, it's really occupied most of my time for the last couple of years. And it's been an incredible joy to work on. And suddenly, now it's over. And it's out of my hands."
He continued, "And it feels premature to just jump into the next one, although I may do that," and it may or may not regrettably be The Kawaii Album. "So I'm kind of in this weird in-between phase where I don't know who I am or what I'm supposed to be doing," the musician said. "So, I'm sorry, I guess that isn't as positive as I should feel right now!"
He's so real for that. The singer-songwriter went on to explain that there was a central emotion behind the band's musical encapsulation of each quarter of the calendar year — "and for winter, it was sadness," Cuomo told journalist Paolo Ragusa. "And so I just kept meditating on sadness. And I guess that manifested as loneliness and a need for companionship and understanding, and feeling like I'm not getting it." Hence the want for a dog?
Onto lighter fare, the musician teased that the band has a "big tour announcement" on the horizon, which will mark their first since the Hella Mega Tour with Fall Out Boy and Green Day.
"And in the 'pure fun' department, we're going to participate in this television tribute to the Beach Boys," Cuomo added. "So we're in the midst of figuring out which Beach Boys songs we want to cover, and oh my God, it's incredibly fun."
Weezer made our recap of the year in music news for the cancellation of their Broadway residency behind the SZNZ project, citing "low ticket sales and unbelievably high expenses."
