Eels have today shared details of a new album, ‘Cookie Happened’, while giving fans a taster of what it sounds like via the emotive new track, ‘Cap In Hand’ – listen to it below.
The album will be the band’s 16th and will arrive on October 16 via E Works/Play It Again Sam. You can pre-order the album here.
Alongside the album announcement, the band also shared a new single, ‘Cap In Hand’, which you can listen to below.
The track is described as a “bittersweet and beautifully bruised first take of the album” that is “told from the perspective of someone finally confronting their mistakes and is now attempting to set things right.”
You can listen to the new track here:
The statement added: “The warm-hearted, rueful and quietly triumphant song, sets the tone for an album that finds E (Mark Oliver Everett) turning his gaze toward life’s small victories, inevitable disappointments and the strange miracle of having been here at all.”
Speaking about the album title, E said: “All of this will be forgotten. Every joy, accomplishment and hardship will one day become so irrelevant it will be as if none of it occurred.
“But as the great philosopher of our times, Cookie Monster once said: ‘Me no cry because cookie is finished. Me smile because cookie happened.’ This will all be forgotten. But isn’t it still a beautiful thing that it happened?”
Speaking about the new track, E added: “I wanted to sound kind of worn out for this one too, like someone who’s messed up their life but now sees the error of their ways and is trying to make amends with their tail between their legs.
“You know how record companies are: ‘We don’t care what you give us, just make sure you sound defeated on the first two tracks!'”
‘Cookie Happened Tracklist:
1. ‘Clobbered’
2. ‘Cap In Hand’
3. ‘All Forgotten’
4. ‘Bamboozled Again’
5. ‘Lost And Barking’
6. Taking Pictures’
7. ‘New Story’
8. ‘Congratulations To Me’
9. ‘One Razzle, One Dazzle’
10. ‘I’m On Standby’
11. ‘Dum Dums’
12. ‘The Way I Was Made’
Back in March, it was announced that Judd Apatow is producing a documentary about Eels frontman Everett.
The pair have worked together before, when E acted in Apatow’s 2016 TV series Love, and now the filmmaker is putting together about the musician’s fascinating life.
Titled The Way I Was Made: The Story Of A Man Called E, the film is directed by Gus Black, who has also made music videos for Eels.
The official synopsis reads: “The Way I Was Made is an intimate and emotionally powerful portrait of an artist’s unwavering pursuit of creative integrity in the face of profound personal tragedy. As a teenager, Everett discovered his brilliant but troubled father dead. Years later, just as his dreams of becoming a musician began to take shape, he lost both his sister and his mother in devastating succession.
“Confronted with unimaginable grief, Everett chose not the pursuit of fame, but a deeply personal artistic path — transforming loss into one of the most heart-achingly beautiful and critically acclaimed catalogues in modern music.”
Apatow said in a statement (via Stereogum): “I’ve always thought E’s story would make for a fantastic documentary. I am confused by why it has taken this long.”
E’s 2007 autobiography, Things The Grandchildren Should Know, received critical acclaim for its unique narrative framing, where the author takes on the persona of an elderly man sharing wisdom he has learned before he dies. The Who legend Pete Townshend described it as “One of the best books ever written by a contemporary artist.”