Album Reviews: "Earth to Dora" by Eels (8/10)

Distributed by: E Works/[PIAS]

Producer: Mark Oliver Everett

As if to tempt luck, the 13th album delivered by Los Angeles indie rockers Eels wallows freely in sorrow and yearning. Lyrically, Earth to Dora leans toward darkness, but bandleader Mark Oliver Everett’s knack for spiriting beauty from sadness overshadows whatever pain he intends to express. Arrangements like swirling watercolors intermix with vocals alternately roughhewn and buttery throughout. It’s enough to make one believe the singer, alternatively called E, exists purely to fill the spiritual hole left by Tom Petty’s untimely death.