Weezer gave fans the chance to hear ‘The Black Album’ ahead of its release by visiting an island in the online video game Fortnite.
Yesterday (February 28), the band invited players to listen to four new songs from ‘The Black Album’ on a jukebox nestled in a Weezer-themed island.
There is a new @Weezer themed island in @FortniteGame season 8 which is also playing the new album @RiversCuomo pic.twitter.com/tgNI3jDjr7
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) February 28, 2019
‘The Black Album’ – out today (March 1) – follows ‘The Teal Album’, a covers record that was released at the start of 2019. The LA alt-rockers’ last original full-length was 2017’s ‘Pacific Daydream’. Stream the new record below.
Fortnite is no stranger to brand collaborations. In May 2018, the game teamed up with the Avengers movie franchise for a unique Thanos game mode. Last month, Marshmello held an in-game concert in Fortnite.
Elsewhere, Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo has explained that the unexpected viral success of the band’s cover of Toto’s ‘Africa’ delayed the new album.
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He said in a statement, “‘Africa’ blew up so big, it put the original Black Album on hold indefinitely, but now we have a much cooler record.”
- READ MORE: Weezer’s 10 best songs
The new record’s 10 tracks were conceived by Cuomo at home on a piano in a new move from the band. Cuomo then sent the songs to longtime fan and friend, TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek, who experimented with the songs with the rest of the group.
Members of Weezer also switched up different instruments to boost experiment, such as Patrick Wilson swapping his drums for the guitar and bassist Scott Shriner playing synth
Cuomo previously told NME that ‘The Black Album’ is “darker” and “more experimental and wildly negative”.
He explained: “It’s experimenting with more modern electronic elements. It has one foot in the future and one foot in the past. The foot in the past would be like The Jesus & Mary Chain.”