By Phil Scarisbrick

Mr E’s Beautiful Blues is that song in the Eels’ back catalogue where more people know it than have actually heard of Eels. Its infectiously upbeat soundtrack and effortlessly catchy ‘God damn right, it’s a beautiful day‘ chorus hook, combined with being used on the cult comedy film, Road Trip, meant it crept into the public consciousness across the globe. On one of the song’s verses, the eponymous Mr. E sings about ‘The clown with the frown/Drivin’ down to the sidewalk fair/Finger on the trigger/Let me tell you it is quite a scare‘. This week, we got the exciting news of a new Eels record – Earth to Dora. The image adorning this record may or may not be the visualisation of this lyric, but either way – let me tell you – it really is quite a scare!

The song accompanying the album announcement also shares a similar tone to the aforementioned ‘Beautiful Blues. Are We Alright Again is a joy to listen to with a tiny a scoop of Eels’ darkness combined with a whole heap of Eels’ pop to create something that will be lodged in your head for a long time after listening. It bursts into life with an Oliver Twist synth melody and stacatto bass groove – driving Mark Everett’s gleefully exuberant vocal. The chorus is of a similarly brilliant standard to the first single off the album, Baby Let’s Make It Real, while lyrics like ‘Hey Mr new bird, give me a hit of that/And pass it over to that mangy cat‘ add a level of absurd, madcap imagery that we’ve come to expect.

Three singles in, and it feels like Earth to Dora may be something really special. 30th October can not come soon enough.

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