Rivers Cuomo unveiled a surprise new single, "Medicine for Melancholy." The song is the Weezer frontman's first as a solo artist.
Unlike the riff-heavy Weezer catalog, "Medicine for Melancholy" finds Cuomo backed by sweeping synths and handclapped beats while still boasting Weezer's penchant for big hooks.
"We got that Friday feeling / Can I hang out with you for a bit? / You're my medicine for melancholy / I wanna take you in," Cuomo sings before the wordless chorus.
It's unclear whether "Medicine for Melancholy" is a one-off single from the Weezer singer or a preview of an upcoming solo album. Cuomo has previously released three installments in his Alone series, a collection of home demos and acoustic recordings; the most recent chapter arrived in 2011 with Alone III: The Pinkerton Years. Outside of Weezer, Cuomo has also recorded as part of the J-pop duo Scott & Rivers.
Weezer released its 11th studio album Pacific Daydream in October 2017. The band originally planned on unleashing their Black Album – a follow-up of sorts to their 2016 self-titled White Album – but the ever-prolific Cuomo instead formed Pacific Daydream out of thousands of riffs, beats and chord progressions he had stored in Google Sheets, the singer told Rolling Stone.
Weezer previously hinted at a 2018 release for the self-titled Black Album before the surprise arrival of "Medicine for Melancholy" Friday.