For the 15th time in his career, it’s “Eels time.” Mark Everett’s band has released a new album marked by the pandemic and his recovery from open heart surgery after the 2023 “Lockdown Hurricane” tour. The artist says he feels lucky to be still alive in the note that presents the album, which opens with a song called ‘Time’, a reflection on what we used to have a lot of left over, but we have less and less left over.
‘Eels Time!’ It is not a plaintive album, but one in which the most gruesome songs coexist again with happier ones. The percussions of ‘We Won’t See Her Like Again’ or ‘Sweet Smile’ are cute, the latter with certain 60’s type choruses. And it’s much darker, right in the middle, a ‘Goldy’ with sordid lyrics that talks about classified ads, people with fetishes and having to start over and over again.
This structure based on contrasts is repeated throughout the sequence, with more ambient productions, such as ‘If I’m Gonna Go Anywhere’, which could be one of those expansive songs from Primal Scream or Oasis; and others that sound like the typical 100% Eels lullaby, like ‘And You Run’.
Mark Everett has recorded the album between Los Feliz, California, and Dublin, with meticulous collaborators such as Koool G Murder, The Chet, Tyson Ritter and Sean Coleman, but he has missed the opportunity for this album to be the one of his recovery or illness, in after certain generalities. Again, it’s as if he were saving the best stories for another book like the fantastic one he published… too long ago.
In the end, this is just another Eels album, with its emotional ups and downs… and quality too. Among the most striking lyrics is ‘Lay With the Lambs’, with that frustration so typical of middle age: “All my friends have jobs, lives, and women, but we all die alone. Don’t they know? Among the most striking minimalist poems, ‘Song for You Know Who’, about “mistakes made, and opportunities wasted.” Among the best melodies, ‘I Can’t Believe It’s True’ or ‘Let’s Be Lucky’, which serves as a good final touch.
