[rating=9.00]
Eels’ new album, The Deconstruction, nearly didn’t happen. After taking a four-year hiatus from which he wasn’t certain that he’d return, Mark Oliver Everett, the band’s eternal mastermind and provocateur, slowly recovered his muse. It didn’t happen all at once; the new music came into being at intermittent stages and with no particular plan. When Everett realized he had enough material for a record, the record was recorded.
Yet despite the apparent happenstance and random means of assembly, The Deconstruction is a surprisingly coherent collection. In some ways, that’s almost an oxymoron. Eels albums have never been known to not include some unexpected twists and unlikely musical circumstance. That said, the album maintains a smooth groove, one that makes this collection consistently easy on the ears. Ambiance and ingenuity have something to do with that scenario, particularly when it comes to songs such as the title track, “Rusty Pipes,” “There I Said It,” and “The Epiphany,” all of which dwell in more sedate circumstance. Some tracks seem to revolve around reflection — the downcast “Premonition” and “Sweet Scorched Earth” in particular — but even those with an uptempo tone sound giddy and upbeat. The swinging tempo of “You Are the Shining Light” and the repeated “sha-la-las” in the refrain accompanying “Bone Dry” attest to E’s upbeat attitude.
Strings and the band’s usual atmospheric arrangements underscore these melodious soundscapes and add to the feeling of ease and intrigue. That’s not necessarily the case with every entry — some are hazier than others — but there is enough of a sonic lure to add interest, even to the shorter sequences that form the bridge between songs. Like every Eels album that came before it, The Deconstruction is a fascinating example of imagination and ingenuity at work. Fans and newcomers alike ought to feel grateful that the Eels chose to recoil the way they did.
