Weezer drops new single
Weezer released “Shine Again,” billed as the first single from their upcoming 16th studio album and produced by Kenny Beats — a notable producer pairing that could shift their sound. The band also plans a Record Store Day release of early demos and rarities, tying the single’s buzz to a vinyl‑focused event on April 18. (wrif.com) (delcotimes.com)
Weezer just put out a new song called “Shine Again,” and the unusual part is the producer credit: Kenneth Blume, better known as Kenny Beats, is listed alongside Klas Åhlund on the track’s Apple Music credits. The single runs 4 minutes and 5 seconds and arrived on April 1, 2026, as Weezer’s first new release tied to its next album. (music.apple.com) The band is treating “Shine Again” as the opening shot for album number 16, but there is still no album title or release date on the public rollout. WRIF reported the song as the first preview of the new studio album, and Apple Music lists the release under Warner Records in 2026. (wrif.com) (music.apple.com) Kenny Beats is the curveball here because Weezer usually lives in guitar-band territory, while he built his name producing rap and genre-hopping pop records. Even the official song credits show a split setup, with Kenny Beats and Swedish producer Klas Åhlund both attached to production, which suggests this was not a standard in-house Weezer session. (music.apple.com) The release also lands right after a label move. WRIF reported in March that “Shine Again” would be Weezer’s first new music since signing with Reprise and Warner Records, and that the new album is expected later in 2026. (wrif.com) At the same time, Weezer is reaching backward nearly all the way to the start of the band. Record Store Day’s 2026 listing says a vinyl release called “1192” comes out on April 18 and is built from Weezer’s very first studio sessions, the recordings that helped the band land its contract for the 1994 “Blue Album.” (recordstoreday.com) That Record Store Day release is not a wide, unlimited pressing. The official listing says “1192” is an LP on Ernest Jenning Record Co., marked “Record Store Day First,” with 3,000 copies planned for April 18, 2026. (recordstoreday.com) Record Store Day itself is a store event built around independent shops, not a normal Friday streaming drop. The organization says it started in 2007, held its first event on April 19, 2008, and now involves about 1,400 independently owned stores in the United States plus thousands more internationally. (recordstoreday.com 1) (recordstoreday.com 2) So Weezer is doing two things at once in April: a brand-new single with a producer pairing fans do not usually associate with the band, and a vinyl artifact from the earliest Matt Sharp era. One points to whatever album 16 sounds like in 2026, and the other packages the tape-reel origin story for Record Store Day shoppers on April 18. (music.apple.com) (recordstoreday.com)
