BLOGS

"End Times," like most Eels records, focuses on a metaphor for heartbreak and makes it a theme. A break-up that feels like the end of the world is nothing new, but Mark Everett brings a deeper sense of tragedy to it. He sings solemnly of memories when "everything was beautiful and free" in "The Beginning." The song emits a bittersweet quality, as it implies an end — and a less beautiful one, at that. "Gone Man" follows to confirm the end with the line, "She used to love me, but it's over now." Everett's transitions between resentful pleading, somber regrets and pained acceptance are so real and relatable, this album could well be his most universal. On "Unhinged," he acknowledges that, despite bitterness and anger, "You were more than my girl, you were my best friend." "End Times" takes its saddest turns on "A Line In the Dirt," which illustrates hurt on both sides and his own failings, and "Little Bird," with an aching that's palpable. "I am a man in great pain over great beauty," Everett sings in "On My Feet," a pretty sad-sacky ode to resilience. Beautiful, depressing and potentially cathartic, "End Times" is not an album for every day, but it definitely has its place in a dark day.

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