EMINEM'S RECOVERY SUBTEXT

It will be another month before the world hears his new album, but Eminem may have just offered a glimpse into the project’s artistic themes.

With “Recovery” due June 22, the Detroit rapper released a pair of artful, cryptic cover images today, creating an inevitable stir across the Internet.

The images were shot by Nigel Parry, a London-bred, New York-based photographer who has worked with many of the world’s biggest celebrities. The two shots will function as a dual front cover, which fans can flip around at their whim.

In one, Eminem walks with his back to the camera down an empty road — an apparent reference to the lonely path to recovery, by an artist championing his newfound sobriety.

Of more interest, though, is a striking image set in downtown Detroit that seems rife with symbolism. It’s a sleek, surreal shot portraying Eminem inside a transparent cube — a glass house? — on a deserted Hart Plaza, the Renaissance Center looming behind him. The 37-year-old star is seated on a leather couch, book in hand and glass of milk within reach.

The crisply composed, modernist image will adorn what is likely to be of one of the world’s top-selling albums this year. And it’s ripe for interpretation, which Detroit art connoisseurs were happy to engage in today.

Some compared it with the classic ’70s album covers of artists such as Pink Floyd as they pondered its possible messages: Perhaps it’s a nod to the economic struggles — and fragile comeback hopes — of the auto industry and Detroit. A commentary on his own fame, which has trapped him on display for the world. An allusion to the quiet solace of healing.

“At some level, he seems to be drawing a parallel between his problems and the problems of the city,” said Luis Croquer, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. “It has this component of transparency, and Detroit is like that at the moment — everyone is looking at Detroit, which is in this bubble. It’s similar to how people look at him under the microscope.

Via freep