Desperation—and Hope—Shine Through on Eels’ Latest

Test Ticker

Please support Mother Jones with a year-end donation. The truth is, we're a long way from our $600,000 goal, and we have to get as close as we can by Tuesday so we don't have to make hard decisions come January. If you value our reporting, please consider pitching in today.

$600,000

We still need to raise 400,000: Whether you can give $5 or $500, it all matters.

Please support Mother Jones with a year-end donation. We need to raise $600,000, or get as close as we can, by Tuesday so we don't need to make hard decisions come January. Whether you can give $5 or $500, it all makes a difference.

Eels
The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett
E Works/Pias

The latest in his ongoing series of unsparing self-portraits, The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett follows a familiar formula, but is deeply affecting regardless. Everett’s lovely chamber-pop ballads (plus the occasional rocker) offer candid snapshots of his psychic wounds, often self-inflicted, made all the more poignant by his gruff yet tender voice, suggesting a confused yet well-meaning soul struggling to achieve a more enlightened state.

If the desperation and neediness of songs like “Agatha Chang” and “Series of Misunderstandings” can verge on uncomfortable, Everett also tries to strike a note of hope amid the lamentations. Confirmed Eels fans will want to spring for the two-disc edition, featuring some perfectly good leftovers and live cuts, including a rousing and surprisingly faithful cover of the early Fleetwood Mac classic “Oh Well.”