With the disappointing delay of the heavy metal album Van Weezer, Weezer has just released their new album called OK Human to tide us over until May 7. The album is an attempt to talk about our struggles in our society as a whole.

   “OK Human came to life amongst the noise of everyday anxieties and constant inner thoughts about how we connect as humans and to technology,” the band stated on their Twitter account. “The album is about feeling isolated, alienated and secluded – the perfect soundtrack for today.”

   Kicking off the album is the track All My Favorite Songs. Weezer has always had some of the best opening tracks on their albums and this is no exception. This song is relatable to people who feel confused about their sense of direction and purpose. The song makes this especially clear with lines like the following: 

“All my favorite songs are slow and sad All my favorite people make me mad Everything that feels so good is bad, bad, bad” 

“I love parties, but I don’t go Then I feel bad when I stay home” 

“I fall in love with everyone who hates me” 

This song is one of my favorites on the album. The music video is also one of the most creative music videos I have seen in a while because it blends the early 90s with the modern world. 

   Aloo Gobi is a song that was written all the way back in 2017, but makes perfect sense as to why it is now just coming out. The first verse of the song features Rivers Cuomo, the lead vocalist and lyricist, talking about a typical night out with his family and how he does not want to be around most people because he is agoraphobic. Agoraphobia is a fear of being around other people, but to an extreme. Lines such as “What’s playin’ at The Aero? Some French noir flick Don’t wanna sit next to humans, I’m agoraphobic,” and “Oh-oh-oh my God, what’s happenin’ to me? Walkin’ down Montana, woah-oh Same old dull routines, same aloo gobi,” definitely make this clear. This song was written in 2017 so it is possible that he has changed, and I think that he has. After all, even though he does not want to be around people and is upset about the same routines, he misses it because he wants a sense of normalcy but cannot get it due to the pandemic. This is why the song is even more impactful hearing it now.

   Grapes Of Wrath is about how Rivers wants to escape the world and go listen to audiobooks on his phone. Because a lot is going so wrong, he just wants a sense of escapism and isolation. This is clear with lines like “I’m gonna rock my Audible Headphone Grapes of Wrath Drift off to oblivion I just don’t care, I just don’t care,” and “You think I care, I just don’t care I just don’t care I’m barely there I just don’t care.” This was not my favorite track off the album. This is not a bad song by any means, I just do not see myself putting it on repeat.

   The song Numbers is where the album really started to catch my attention. While this is not one that I would go back and listen to over and over, I think this is one of the better-written songs on the album. The song talks about how everyone is just trying to reach a certain number in everything like in their IQ and especially on their social media posts. With lines like “And your IQ’s too low for poetry Numbers are out to get you, numbers are out to get you,” and “Look at him, look at her, they’ve got a million likes.” 

   Playing My Piano, like the song Grapes Of Wrath, is a song about escapism and how Rivers just wants to be isolated and do whatever he wants to do. He wants to escape the problems of the real world and he wants to jam out on his piano. The line that expresses this the best is “I should get back to these Zoom interviews But I get so absorbed and time flies I just can’t let go when I’m playin’ my piano.” While this was not a bad track, it was quite enjoyable actually, I just thought that Grapes Of Wrath tackled the concept of escapism and isolation way better than Playing My Piano.

   Mirror Image is one of the shorter tracks on the album. This is Rivers saying that he is so troubled that even religion can not save him. This is seen with lines like “Until the day that we shatter I will know where I stand,” and “Heaven can’t save this man Heaven can’t help this man

Heaven, Heaven turned his back on this man Heaven shuts the door on this man.” This track was a very dreary song, but I thought that the song expressed just how sad Rivers may be feeling.

   Screens is one of the best-written tracks on the album. This song talks about one of the worst problems in our day-to-day life: the overwhelming amount of technology and how everyone would rather look at their screens. This is seen with the lyrics “Young girl, lyin’ flat in her bed Streaming images to her head Homework or memes, slime or BLACKPINK Eight hours gone, now her mind’s blown She don’t, she don’t want me here,” and “As everybody moves into the cloud Can you tell me where we’re going? Where will we be twenty-one years from now? Everyone stares at the screens.” This one really resonated with me because I have always felt that technology is taking over. It has become a daily habit and an addiction with a lot of people on their phones constantly.

   Bird With A Broken Wing is the longest track on the album with a runtime of three minutes and fifty-one seconds long. I think this song is about how Rivers has to push through pain in his life while writing music. The line “Now I’m just a bird with a broken wing And I still have a song to sing” makes me think that while he is hurting or “has a broken wing” he can write a lot of good relatable music. It makes sense to put this song on here with the relatable nature of this album.

   Dead Roses is a song with a very good instrumental track behind it. I think that this song is about how he does not want to let go of someone close to him who passed on with the line “Dead roses At the bottom of an oubliette Where they beat you ’til you begged to live You are mine and you were always mine Now I’m crying over dead roses I could never let them go.” I think that this track had a good sound to it, but it was nothing to write home about.

   Everything Happens For A Reason is the shortest track on the album clocking in at just 24 seconds. It is an instrumental song that has an interesting sound to it. There is not much to say about this track, other than the fact that it is so forgettable that I forgot that the track even existed. However, listening to it again I liked it more.

   Here Comes The Rain is an homage to one of my favorite songs ever called Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles. I see this song as a light in the dark nature that is this album. With the chorus being “Oh, it’s gonna wash all my troubles away Here comes the rain” I think what Rivers is trying to say is despite all of the negativity going on, tomorrow is a brand new day and it is a restart. This is one of my favorite songs off the album and I wish that this would have been the closer of the album because of the positivity in the song.

   La Brea Tar Pits is the dark closing song to an even darker album. Rivers is questioning whether or not he has made an impact with his music and whether or not his legacy will live on. This is seen with the chorus “Now I’m sinking in the La Brea Tar Pits And I don’t want to die ’cause there’s still so much to give I’m sinking, could you give me a lift? Wanna make an escape but don’t know where to begin.” He is worried that people will remember Weezer based on a few subpar albums rather than the really great albums that they have done. It goes to show that he does care what people think of his music.

   Overall, I think that OK Human was awesome. It is one of Weezer’s better albums in the last decade. It shows a more grown-up sound to the band. It has a different kind of sound than any other Weezer album ever made. The album had some relatable tracks that I think will get better with age. 

   OK Human is available to stream on all major streaming platforms and physical versions of the album can be ordered at most retailers.