Ben Kweller has released the third song from his soon-to-be-released album, Cover The Mirrors, his first new music since the sudden passing of his 16-year-old son Dorian Zev in 2023. “Depression (Feat. Coconut Records)” is streaming now on all digital platforms.
“Depression” is a synthy, slinky collaboration with Coconut Records’ Jason Schwartzman that was inspired by a keytar that Kweller has had since he was eight years old. The track was built around one of the pre-set sounds on that instrument.
“When Dorian died in the crash I went into a spiral. Nothing was real. All of these new songs speak of my grief journey but none cut as deep as “Depression”. I’m not hiding the ball here,” Kweller says of the lyrics. “I mean, it’s called ‘Depression.’ It’s right on the nose, which I guess is very ‘Ben Kweller’ of me, just to be straight the fuck up about it.” He says laughingly. “I like how the song goes to this other place at the end and doesn’t return,” he continues. “It says what most of us feel when we’re at our lowest. It does it all up front and then takes a sharp turn. That’s me whenever I’m crushed and can’t get out of bed, I’m just looking for the sharp turn to something good.”
“Working with Ben has been a goal since we first met when we were just out of teenagehood,” says Schwartzman. “To me, BK is one of the finest songwriters we got. His music means a lot to me and my family. Above all else, his friendship means a ton to me. He asked if I wanted to participate on the song ‘Depression,’ which I love so much, and he basically said can you bring your heart and soul to this song and see if it works out. Hopefully it did. I’m really proud of it. This song has got a great groove. I love the way it’s arranged, the instrumentation. It’s simple yet deceptively complex and I think the way he sums up this feeling is at least for me pretty spot on.”
Kweller is currently preparing for a North American headline tour with his bandmates, Christopher Mintz-Plasse on bass, Parker Twomey on guitar/keys, and Ryan Dean on drums. The tour goes from April 15 to July 26 and tickets are on sale now. Support acts include, rising Nashville folk artist, RYMAN, and slacker-pop startup, cheese touch, led by Superorganism’s Orono Noguchi.
