Ahead of the release of their anticipated fourteenth studio album Extreme Witchcraft, out January 28 via [PIAS] and the band’s own E Works Records, EELS have today shared the album’s opening track, ‘Amateur Hour’.
‘Amateur Hour’ follows on from recently released singles ‘The Magic,’ ‘Steam Engine‘ and ‘Good Night on Earth‘, which The New York Times heralded as “a quintessential Eels song: hoarse, succinct, dry-eyed and well aware of life’s ironies,” and received rotation adds across Double J, 2SER, Edge Radio and rage (Feature Video), while early previews of the album have seen Extreme Witchcraft described as “honest to god rock n’ roll” by DIY Magazine, “wit, tunes and third-degree self awareness” by Uncut, and “E delivers again on his percussive, groove-rich latest” by MOJO.
EELS leader Mark Oliver Everett, aka E, co-produced the record with PJ Harvey producer and guitarist John Parish, marking the first time the two have recorded together since 2001’s Souljacker album.
Says E: “John Parish is one of the most even-tempered, polite people I’ve ever met. A true gentleman. Actually he’s probably THE most polite person I’ve ever met. But when he gets into the studio he becomes a mad scientist. If you make music with John Parish, you get stuff no one else does. He has a really unique toolbox and musical outlook. Perhaps his politeness is a coping mechanism to keep Mr. Hyde under control when he’s out of his laboratory.”
EELS have had one of the most consistently acclaimed careers in music. The ever-changing project of principal singer/songwriter E (Mark Oliver Everett), EELS have released 13 studio albums since their 1996 debut, Beautiful Freak. In 2008, E published his highly acclaimed book Things the Grandchildren Should Know and starred in the award-winning Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives documentary about the search to understand his quantum physicist father, Hugh Everett III. 2020’s Earth To Dora album, received extensive critical praise, and was described as “their sweetest natured album ever” by The Independent and awarded four stars in MOJO and NME.
