VIA PRESS RELEASE | Ahead of the release of their highly anticipated fourteenth studio album Extreme Witchcraft, out January 28 via PIAS and the band’s own E Works Records, EELS are sharing the album’s opening track, “Amateur Hour.”
EELS frontperson and songwriter E (a.k.a. Mark Oliver Everett) co-produced Extreme Witchcraft with PJ Harvey producer and guitarist John Parish, marking the first time the two have recorded together since 2001’s Souljacker album. “Amateur Hour” follows the singles “The Magic,” “Good Night On Earth,” and “Steam Engine,” which have received extensive critical praise from The New York Times, Consequence of Sound, Stereogum, SPIN, Brooklyn Vegan and many more.
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.
