Ben Kweller has shared ‘Depression’. Written in the wake of his 16-year-old son Dorian’s death, the song is a poignant piece built around a pre-set sound on a keytar that Ben has had since he was 8 years old. Actor Jason Schwartzman guests under his Coconut Records moniker. It will appear on forthcoming album, ‘Cover the Mirrors’ (out on 30 May via The Noise Company).
When talking about the song, Ben said: ‘It’s right on the nose, which I guess is very ‘Ben Kweller’ of me, just to be straight the fuck up about it.’ Clocking in at 2 minutes and 46 seconds, it opens with Ben singing about being ‘cemented in my depression’ – noting ‘laughing is a waste of time’ and how ‘it’s like living is a waste of time’ – over the preset melody, before talking about crying and how grief-led memories can leave quite the impression.
There’s a rawness as Ben lays his grief bare: ‘Maybe I haven’t waited long enough for everything to be OK. I used to pretend that I was strong and tough but I can’t even give you the day’; ‘I don’t have the energy to suck it up and hide all these feelings away’. The song then cuts out in the most powerful and abrupt fashion.
