Album Review: Eels - The Deconstruction

Much like the now weirdly spiritual and introspective Jim Carrey, Mark Oliver Everett and his ragtag band of Eels are finally back, and they've got quite a lot to say about the universe, God, death and all that other noise.

Like their previous albums, The Deconstruction continues to answer the question, "What would it sound like if a depressed Beck was forced to write like Kurt Cobain?"

Songs like the title track and Sweet Scorched Earth display Everett's inspired talent for creative sampling and bittersweet sentiments. The bouncy and optimistic Today Is The Day sounds like the credits song of a Shrek film that has yet to be released, while the pulsing Rusty Pipes recalls the rage of 1998's Cancer For The Cure.

While the bulk of his post-'90s output is pleasant at best, albums like Beautiful Freak, Electro-Shock Blues and Blinking Lights And Other Revelations are so quietly brilliant that any new project of Everett's should deserve our unconditional attention.

It's a shame that The Deconstruction doesn't quite belong in the same breath as his previous gems, but what's on offer here is a warm and welcome return from an artist who often sung about leaving this world forever.