Since his debut in 1995, the musical preferences of Mark Oliver Everett, the man with the broken voice behind the pseudonym Eels, have been well known to his fans: falsely stripped alt-folk, melancholic rock or fat blues, on guitars dissonant.
Posted at 6:00 p.m.
Musically, he casts a wide net. And it attracts attention: Promising career start – thanks to the play Novocaine for the Soul (1996) –, attempted political appropriation of the album Daisies of the Galaxy (2000) by the future President of the United States George W. Bush, notable presence on many soundtracks, in particular the series of animated films Shrek, etc
The common thread in all of this? The texts. The 14 albums in Eels’ discography essentially tell the same thing: stories… of loser. The songwriter makes the plight of the marginalized his own, which he wraps in sarcastic and tongue-in-cheek writing, often tinged with black humour.
This whole preamble therefore leads us to this Extreme Witchcraft, the most recent album of his journey, released on Friday. Directed by John Parish (longtime collaborator of PJ Harvey), with whom Mark E had previously worked on the album Souljacker (2001), we suspected that it would be good blues and good rock. And that’s exactly what it is.
Songs Amateur Hour, Good Night on Earth and SteamEngine set the tone: bluesy tunes take over, as guitars resonate and Mark E’s raspy voice utters lyrics like ” I feel so cold now/I might be dying/When things were good/I can’t remember “.
If some parts suggest a few moments of thinning in the distance (Good Night on Earth, Strawberries & Popcorn) or even a parade of inertia (la rageuse What It Isn’t), ultimately, Extreme Witchcraft is not a happy album, quite the contrary. Nothing new in the universe of Eels, you will tell us. And that’s true. But this time, and even with the presence of the venerable Parish behind the console, Eels seems to lack inspiration. A sad album, therefore, even for the listener.
blues rock
Extreme Witchcraft
Eel
E Works