Co-producer Kenneth Blume (fka Kenny Beats) said he wanted to make “the most violent Weezer album ever”
Weezer have announced ‘The Gold Album’ with their mournful new single ‘We Might As Well Be Strangers’, featuring Wednesday‘s Karly Hartzman.
The LA rockers will release their sixteenth studio album on August 21 via Reprise/Warner Records. So far, they’ve shared the Kenneth Blume-produced song ‘Shine Again‘ – their first track since 2022.
The album will see the band go back-to-basics, with frontman Rivers Cuomo and and drummer Patrick Wilson focusing on “basics of a song” for the first time since their debut album in 1994.
Meanwhile, Blume has co-produced the album alongside Klas Åhlund. In a press release, Blume said he wanted to make “the most violent Weezer album ever”, while Åhlund has reportedly taken a more mathematical approach.
Now, they’re shared their second preview of the album, ‘We Might As Well Be Strangers’. With Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman contributing a verse, the song reflects on the aftermath of a breakup. “Is it still hеdonism if you’re feeling miserable? / Don’t want your songs to become the clues to why we lost you”, Hartzman sings on the track.
Take a listen to ‘We Might As Well Be Strangers’ and see the full tracklist to ‘The Gold Album’ below:
Weezer’s ‘Gold Album’ tracklisting is:
‘Say Yes’
‘Shine Again’
‘Don’t Make It Weird’
‘We Might As Well Be Strangers’ (feat. Wednesday)
‘C.E.O.’
‘Hoops’
‘Nowhere’
‘The Show Must Go On’
‘Up in the Clouds’
‘The LA Sound’
Weezer will soon embark on a North American tour, with The Shins and Silversun Pickups as support across select dates. ‘The Gathering’ tour kicks off September 8 in Sacramento and spans 32 shows before concluding in Los Angeles on October 24.
The tour follows a series of ‘Initiation’ shows, including a pop-up rooftop gig in Los Angeles, an appearance at a pickleball tournament and an intimate gig at the chain restaurant Barney’s Beanery.
Get your tickets here and see below for all dates:
Weezer’s 2026 US tour dates are:
SEPTEMBER
08 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center *
09 – San Francisco, CA – Chase Center *
11 – Portland, OR – Moda Center *
12 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena *
13 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena *
15 – West Valley City, UT – Maverik Center *
16 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena *
20 – Saint Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center *
22 – Chicago, IL – United Center *
23 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena *
25 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena *
26 – Laval, QC – Place Bell *
27 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
29 – Philadelphia, PA – Xfinity Mobile Arena
30 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
OCTOBER
02 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
03 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center
04 – Raleigh, NC – Lenovo Center
06 – Columbus, OH – Nationwide Arena
07 – Milwaukee, WI – Fiserv Forum
09 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
10 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
11 – Orlando, FL – Kia Center
13 – Sunrise, FL – Amerant Bank Arena
14 – Tampa, FL – Benchmark International Arena
16 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
17 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
18 – Austin, TX – Moody Center ATX
20 – Phoenix, AZ – Mortgage Matchup Center
21 – San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena
23 – Las Vegas, NV – T-Mobile Arena
24 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena
*w/ The Shins and Silversun Pickups
Elsewhere, NME last spoke to Weezer in 2024, where Cuomo looked back at the process of making their 1994 debut album – three decades after it was released.
“The one thing that struck me was how physically close we all were, not just the four of us, but there was a whole crowd of young men, packed into very small apartments in a very small part of Los Angeles,” he shared. “[We] were just constantly hanging out and talking, debating and discussing music and style, and we didn’t even have television sets back then so there was very little to distract us… And obviously we had no wives, children or girlfriends.”
He continued: “When we released the ‘Blue’ album, I definitely felt like it was the greatest album of all time. I figured there was a chance I was wrong, but to me, it was my favourite album of all time and I assumed other people would feel the same way.”
