Cover the Mirrors＜Clear Vinyl＞

Cover the Mirrors, the seventh album from power pop auteur Ben Kweller, is an expression of crushing grief delivered with unbelievable levels of hope and optimism. These songs are Kwellers first creations since the tragic sudden loss of his son Dorian Zev, who died in 2023 in a car accident at age 16. This kind of world-rattling pain has often historically served as a catalyst for an artist either disappearing from the public eye, or returning to their art as a place to process overwhelming emotions. Cover the Mirrors, while by no means happy, finds Kweller facing all of the heartache and existential confusion related to the death of his son in songs that are honest, vulnerable, and often far more joyful than they are sad. "Dont Cave" serves as a fairly direct mission statement to this effect. Against a sugary backdrop of distorted guitars and triumphant strings, Kweller pleads for strength and perseverance in the face of unfathomable sadness, clearly talking to himself. The upbeat acoustic anti-folk tune "Park Harvey Fire Drill" and the rowdy rocker "Optimystic" are similar, with Kweller sorting through jumbled feelings with the help of catchy, almost alarmingly joyful pop. Even when the music matches the raw feelings of the lyrics, Kweller finds a place of soft melancholy that never fully loses sight of the beauty that can happen even in lifes darkest passages. The pining piano-led ballad "Going Insane" perfectly embodies the hollow feelings of powerlessness one faces when dealing with death, and "Dollar Store" finds Kweller duetting with Waxahatchees Katie Crutchfield over a guitar-forward arrangement that calls directly on Siamese Dream-era Smashing Pumpkins for its yearning nostalgia. Theres a sense of community throughout the album that speaks to Kweller rejecting the isolation of grief, bringing in other special guests like the Flaming Lips, MJ Lenderman, and Coconut Records (a musical alias of actor and Phantom Planet alumni Jason Schwartzman), and trusting them enough to open up these exceptionally personal songs to collaboration. Nowhere else does the album so perfectly meet between sadness and sweetness as on the closing track "Oh Dorian." This moving song is the sonic equivalent of smiling with tears in your eyes, its bittersweet folksy ramble celebrating the unnamable wonder of love between parent and child, while simultaneously mourning it. Kwellers agony is very much alive throughout Cover the Mirrors, but the main feeling that resonates through these songs is gratitude. Kweller uses even the albums most harrowing moments as a means of tribute, cherishing every memory he has of his son, and hopeful that theres a plane of existence where theyll see each other again. ~ Fred Thomas