Review: Eels - The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett
[E Works; 2014]
Rating: 7/10
By Sam Kayuha, Contributor
Key Tracks: “Parallels,” “Mistakes of My Youth”
Mr. E--a.k.a. Mark Everett--is a fascinating and somewhat tragic figure in the annals of alternative rock. The sole constant member of Eels, Everett found success with the alt-boom of the mid ‘90s, and for a while he seemed to have a future in the business as a somewhat stranger version of Beck.
Considering the strength of their early material, the fact that Eels received only modest success and remain barely a footnote of the past 15 years is a damn shame.
But losing fans and major label support has not stopped Everett from continuing to write and release highly personal music. The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett is the 11th studio album from Eels, the latest in a constant stream of music that has not slowed down since it began in 1995.
Like every Eels album, Cautionary Tales is a work of retrospection. Nostalgia, loss and hope are all major themes in Everett’s music, and this new album is no exception. The opener “Where I’m At” is a beautiful piano piece that grooves into “Parallels,” in which Everett’s strained voice wonders about a former lover over an acoustic guitar.
If anything is trademark in Eels music, it is the electric piano, which is utilized perfectly depressingly on “Lockdown Hurricane.” “A Swallow in the Sun” features E’s vocals at their grittiest, and a subject very familiar to Eels’ fans--lost love.
“Where I’m From” is the second of three connected songs, located at the beginning, middle and end of the album. In a discography full of retrospection, this record may have the most.
“Gentlemen’s Choice” shows an Everett weary of life. He sings, “Sleep in all day / In dirty sheets / The stain on my shirt / Been there for weeks,” a lyric that does a great job of bringing the listener inside the man’s head. “Mistakes of My Youth” is by far the longest song on the record, clocking in at just under five minutes. Everett finally shows some satisfaction with his life and expresses the hope that he will be able to move on from his mistakes.
The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett is about what you would expect from Eels at this point in their career; Everett has been making the same record for a number of years now. But this record feels different. It has a connected nature, making it feel like complete work, an album in the truest sense of the word. Everett may never have been a star, but he can still craft an album not many others can.
