What would Outkast’s “Hey Ya” sound like if it were played solo acoustic by Weezer singer Rivers Cuomo? How about Nirvana’s “Drain You” or Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” as a sad boy emo ballad?
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Over the weekend, Cuomo uploaded more than a dozen stripped-down covers to YouTube labeled “Private upload for playlist: randum cuverz,” most of which appeared to have been recorded in 2018 and 2019. The list opens with an emotional cover of Radiohead’s breakthrough 1992 single “Creep,” rendered even more fragile in Cuomo’s unadorned version.
It then dives into a quick-strummed take on André 3000’s “Hey Ya,” from Outkast’s landmark 2003 Speakerboxxx/The Love Below double album, with the song getting an indie rock makeover thanks to Cuomo’s multi-layered vocals and suburban dad breakdown on the “lend me some sugar” bit.
He also includes nearly a minute of a sweet cover of Green Day’s “When I Come Around,” a few urgent minutes of Nirvana’s “Drain You” (and a choppy, shouty “Lithium“) as well as a beat-assisted swing through Dolly Parton’s signature hit “Jolene,” with the appropriate amount of yearning in Cuomo’s voice on the most fleshed-out arrangement in the bunch.
Among the most unexpected covers are a strummy, straightforward run through Michael Jackson’s Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “Billie Jean,” complete with an MJ-style yelp and keening falsetto and a heartbreaking, rainy day “Without You,” by Harry Nilsson. Cuomo also dips into his dance pop bag with a charming, twee cover of Whitney Houston’s Hot 100 No. 1 “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” offers up an angsty minute of Post Malone and Quavo’s “Congratulations” and swerves into the country lane again with Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road.”
Some of Cuomo’s Voice Memo-like covers are kind of expected — such as a minute of the Eagles’ “Hotel California” — and the reformed hair metal thrasher’s unplugged rambles through Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” and Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” But he also offers up his energetic take on Morgan Evans’ “Country Outta My Girl” and ends with a 2021 snippet of a piano sonata by Schumann.
At press time, Cuomo had not commented on the songs and a spokesperson for Weezer had not returned Billboard‘s request for further comment.
It’s unclear if the songs will ever be officially released in any form, but Cuomo has unleashed his home demos before in the form of 2007’s Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo, a compilation covering demos recorded from 1992-2007, as well as 2008’s Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo; a third collection, Alone III: The Pinkerton Years, came out in 2010.
Weezer will hit the road with The Gathering tour in the fall, playing the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento with the Shins and Silversun Pickups beginning on Sept. 8.
