Extreme Witchcraft

Extreme Witchcraft isn't a big basket of musical sunshine, but it's been a while since Eels have made an album with this sort of muddled joy, and it's a welcome development from one of pop's major misfits.

We’ve been here before, but we’re back and it’s great.

This is a record scored through, unmistakably, with a desire to have some fun.

Part happy break-up LP, part honest look in the mirror, Extreme Witchcraft works magic. [Feb 2022, p.82]

A work of impish maturity, ‘Extreme Witchcraft’ is Eels at their most playful, with the band’s carefree wizardry still delivering thrills, even after all these years. While not ranking with their absolute best work, in terms of breakneck guitar-led songwriting it more than delivers.

Extreme Witchcraft proves Everett is willing to let it all hang out sonically, delivering enjoyable results.

Extreme Witchcraft snaps and snarls more than usual, but wit, tunes and third-degree self-awareness continue to serve the post-grunge Randy Newman well. [Feb 2022, p.28]

For those that grew to love EELS from their early beginnings in the late ’90s through the early 2000s, you’ll understand the shortcomings here. Fortunately, a sub-par EELS is still better than most but even a couple of the better tunes on Extreme Witchcraft such as “Good Night On Earth” and “Stumbling Bee” sound like re-hashed songs from a previous EELS record.

Rather than a fresh blast of wizardry, ‘Extreme Witchcraft’ is more of a feet-finder for our times.

The songs on Extreme Witchcraft that don’t work simply blend into the background. ... Moments that do work—and there are a handful—combine Everett’s peerless gift for melody and pacing. ... Ultimately, however, there isn’t much in the way of subtext here.

As a study of a man starting to slowly regain his feet after a major relationship break-up during a pandemic, Extreme Witchcraft has plenty to say. As a collection of Eels songs though, it unfortunately falls some way short of the band’s best work.