Ben Kweller and Jason Schwartzman have known each other for a very long time; that picture above captures the two of them together at a record store in 2002. Schwartzman is most famous as an actor, but he used to make music under the name Coconut Records, and he recently teased his first new Coconut Records music in 13 years. But before we hear any music that Schwartzman has made on his own, he's gotten together with his old friend Ben Kweller to help out on an extremely sad new song.
This spring, Ben Kweller will release his new album Cover The Mirrors, the first record that he's made since he went through an unimaginable life event. A couple of years ago, Kweller's 16-year-old song Dorian passed away in a car accident, and Cover The Mirrors represents Kweller's attempt to process that grief. We've already posted his songs "Optimystic" and the Waxahatchee-assisted "Dollar Store," and now Kweller has shared "Depression," the song that he recorded with Schwartzman. It's a bare, devastating synthpop track about being unable to communicate your own personal hell to anyone else. Here's what Kweller says about it:
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. 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.
I like how the song goes to this other place at the end and doesn't return. 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.
And here's what Jason Schwartzman says:
Working with Ben has been a goal since we first met when we were just out of teenagehood. 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.
Listen below.
Cover The Mirrors is out 5/30 on Noise Company. Read our recent Ben Kweller interview here.
