Ben Kweller - "Heart Attack Kid"

Photo by Kevin Baldes

Ben Kweller has kept quite quiet ever since releasing Go Fly a Kite is 2012. Turns out he had a pretty great reason: In 2013 he and his family almost died from carbon monoxide poisoning. To let Kweller tell it: 

“We were in this sweet little cabin and in the middle of the night, Lizzy woke up and said, ‘Ben, get up! Something’s wrong-I feel horrible. I immediately jumped out of bed and collapsed to the ground. We instinctively crawled to the front door and opened it. Fresh air rushed in the cabin. I called 911. We grabbed the boys out of bed, trying to shake them awake, and managed to get everyone outside in the snow. The boys were crying and falling in and out of consciousness-it was like something out of a horror film. When the ambulances arrived, they tested our blood and said our CO levels were so high, we were 15 minutes away from not waking up. Fifteen minutes! We spent the next day in the hospital on pure oxygen and days after that feeling lethargic and mush-brained. When we got back home, I was an incapacitated zombie. I told my team to cancel everything. I was done.”

Kweller spent some time battling depression following the near death experience. He has written about fifty songs, but didn't have any plans to release or record anything. His friend, producer Dwight A. Baker, convinced him to join him in a studio to at least try working on things. 

Luckily for all of us Ben Kweller is back with a new album, and we can check out the first single right now. "Heart Attack Kid" shows Kweller returning to straight up rock. There are some hints of his folk/country side peeking through, but "Heart Attack Kid" is just a fun rock song. As much as I love everything Kweller has put out, it's great to hear him rocking out with a fuzzed out guitar again. "Heart Attack Kid" has an unmistakable groove throughout, making this a perfect alternative rock song.

You can listen to "Heart Attack Kid" below. Circuit Boredom, the new album from Ben Kweller, will be out later this year. For more on Ben Kweller, be sure to check out his website.