Mr.E aka Mark Oliver Everett and his band Eels are back with new album, The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett, and the L.A. group don't disappoint
Eels' albums have always dealt with serious and morose themes such as death, illness, suicide, but thankfully, they compliment such topics with an upbeat sounds, sparing us from getting depressed
It's hard to believe it's almost 20 years since Eels released their fantastic debut, Beautiful Freak, in 1996, since then they've been releasing an album an average of every 18 months, not only has their music evolved since then, but also Mr.E's wonderful beard, don't mind those people saying the beard is dead, long live the beard
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Let's take a quick trip back to when Eels started out with a track from the aforementioned album, and their very first single, 'Novacaine for the Soul', it hit number 10 in the UK charts and spent 25 weeks in the Billboard Modern Rock Chart (look how small his little smig was back then)
Despite the heavy content of their lyrics, Eels are equally about humour and brevity, on their last tour in 2013 the band performed in black Adidas tracksuits and shades in what The Guardian described as reminiscent of Scorsese hit-men, live shows are also renowned for banter with the audience, thankfully, Mr.E and his 5-piece band are going to be playing in The Olympia Theatre on the 1st & 2nd of July, tickets are €40, a little on the pricey side, but guaranteed value for money
The new album, The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett, deal with Mr.E pondering regret, mistakes and then moving on, three tracks on the album, 'Where I'm At', 'Where I'm From' and 'Where I'm Going' follow this course from start to finish, ending on an optimistic note, he's happy, not sure about the dog though....
So let's finish up, appropriately, with the closing track, 'Where I'm Going' and the hopeful lyrics, 'All you see, a world so full of need, And all I need is a pocket full of seeds, Sunflowers shooting up to a sky that is glowing, And I've got a good feeling 'bout where I'm going', keep that beardy chin up Mr.E!
Eels have had some great albums over the last 18 years, as mentioned, Beautiful Freak, but also, Souljacker (my personal favourite) and Blinking Lights and Other Revelations are up there, The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett keeps the ball rolling and is well worthy of a 3.5/5 score
