Eels

The son of one of the most renowned quantum physicists of the 20th century, Mark Everett took more interest in his sister's record collection than his father's scientific theories and started obsessively writing songs on the family piano. Releasing two solo albums under the pseudonym E – A Man Called E (1992) and Broken Toy Shop (1993) - his breakthrough came when he signed to Stephen Spielberg’s newly formed DreamWorks label and founded Eels in 1995. Debut album Beautiful Freak (1996) drew comparisons with Beck for its eccentric collision of lo-fi sounds and introspective darkness and produced the UK Top 10 singles “Novocaine for the Soul” and “Susan's House.” “Novocaine for the Soul” became a hit in the US and reached the top of Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart. The deeply personal tragedy of his sister's suicide and his mother's battle with cancer shaped follow-up Electro-Shock Blues (1998) into a fragile classic, before third album Daisies of the Galaxy (2000) produced his most renowned single “Mr. E's Beautiful Blues” which was featured in the movie Road Trip. Through transient line-up changes, film soundtracks and a documentary - Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives - about his father, Mark Everett continued to create melancholic indie pop chiming with black humor and desperate honesty. Souljacker came in 2001, followed by Shootenanny! (2003), Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (2005), and the live album Eels with Strings (2006). In 2009, they released the first of a trilogy of concept albums, Hombre Lobo. The second, End Times, came in 2010 and the third, Tomorrow Morning, was released later that same year. Later albums Wonderful, Glorious (2013) and The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett (2014) paved the way for their 12th record The Deconstruction, which was released in 2018. After the release of Earth to Dora (2020) and Extreme Witchcraft (2022), Eels announced the June 2024 release of their 15th studio album, Eels Time. The group has also released a half-dozen live albums, five compilations, two EPs, and 17 singles over the course of their career.