Old-school rock that shakes, swings and sends, it’s been a long time since we’ve heard such joyful rock. Mark Oliver Everett, aka E, leader of the American group Eels, raises the colors in his fourteenth album, Extreme Witchcraft (1). A riff of guitars shakes Amateur Hour. Saturated melody and frenetic drumming chant Good Night On Earth on which the rough voice of E slams with all its bite in cheeky verses. “Once upon a time there was a mum and dad who felt good/And thought it was time for a birth/Since then the troubles have never stopped”, quips the singer, before resuming with enthusiasm “Once upon a time I felt good / And you know it’s now!” “.
His music lights up the soundtrack of the film “Shrek”
Brilliant composer, specialist in virtuoso breaks of rhythm, Mark Oliver Everett is at the peak of his art – and of his form! – with Extreme Witchcraft which he will present in concert in France on March 28 in the setting of the Salle Pleyel in Paris.
Since 1995, the songwriter Californian mark with his flamboyant sensitivity his songs attentive to others. Compassionate towards the forgotten of the world whose beauty he finds (Beautiful Freak), down to very human ogres like Shrek (his music illuminates the soundtrack of the animated film), he nourishes his work with his Christian spirituality as a deacon.
→ REREAD. Eels, hope in the midst of darkness at the Rock en Seine festival
After The Deconstruction, in 2018, an introspective record that found its salvation in paternity (Archie Goodnight) and the refuge of a cathedral (In Our Cathedral), this rock preacher wanted “heal and comfort” in 2020 with Earth To Dora, dreamlike pop album.
For his invigorating return to rock, he worked with the talented producer and guitarist of PJ Harvey, the Englishman John Parish with whom he had alreadysign Souljacker in 2001. “When he enters the studio, he becomes a mad scientist. With John Parish, you get things no one else gets. He has a really unique toolkit and musical vision,” rejoices E. Their exhilaratingly energetic collaboration shows that rock music makes it possible to “live better through despair”, as the manifest title sings, Better Living Through Desperation.