Share this page using one of the following services:

• Facebook
• Twitter

• Stumble Upon

• Reddit
• Digg

What is this?

July 2, 2009 - Before he began recording under the name Eels, Mark Oliver Everett released a pair of wryly dark solo albums under the name E. The title of E's first nationally released single, from 1992, summed up a worldview that's propelled him through the long and fascinating career that followed: "Hello Cruel World." That sort of openhearted pessimism has served Everett well over the years, and it continues in earnest on Eels' new Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire.

Everett's dusky croon radiates futile yearning in "In My Dreams," which finds our hero praising a perfect love: "Whatever's wrong with me," he sings, "her kiss redeems." It wouldn't take a shrewd judge of nuance to sort out where the song is going from there, even if the song weren't called "In My Dreams," in part because Everett does such a tremendous job of infusing his every word with doubt, disappointment and unrequited desire.

There's a reason Eels' songs so often play over movie montages: It doesn't take more than a couplet or two for a song like "In My Dreams" to tell a rich story. As Everett lets his gentle fantasy unfold in detail — "That was the funnest day / Her sad eyes beamed" — the song earns every bit of the affection its narrator craves.

Listen to yesterday's Song of the Day, and subscribe to the Song of the Day newsletter.