This is, amazingly, Eels’ tenth album, in a line that started off with the excellent Beautiful Freak over fifteen years ago. Back in those days, Eels were a band rather than the vehicle of E (Mark Oliver Everett to his parents), but Eels have developed in time from being what would have been described as an ‘alternative band’ (who, nonetheless had several chart hits in the UK) into a being a vehicle for E’s fantastic songwriting. Hell, when a songwriter’s songwriter like Tom Waits is quoted as saying “I eagerly await each new release” you must be doing something right, er, right?
Well, make no mistake, E still has plenty of ideas and no shortage of great songs to share with his listeners. Before Christmas, when the cool-as-you-like ‘New Alphabet’ started doing the rounds as a track, it was a sign that this was an album worth watching out for, and so it has proved.
Sure, album opener ‘Bombs Away’ and ‘Stick Together’ might be amongst the standout songs here, but over the course of the album, the quality remains that high, with new things revealing themselves to the listener on successive listens. With an album this good, it’s not just Tom Waits who’s awaiting the next release.
