Serial survivor Mark Oliver Everett returns with that familiar mix of droll, ironic but catchy, melancholy but upbeat numbers, on themes of love, the passage of time, as well as more extreme experiences – family trauma, and his recent open-heart surgery. Opener Time is a beautifully profound acoustic-based number accompanied by home movies of family life, including of himself as a child with his father Hugh Everett, the brilliant originator of the multi-verse interpretation of quantum mechanics who died of a heart attack when Mark was only 19, and found his body. In the video there’s also later footage of the now bearded one his own cute child (Mark became a father later in life), giving a sense of time's circularity. The musician has suffered multiple family tragedies, colouring his dark humour and sense of mortality, and this album carries on that tone, and yet there’s somehow a dark optimism in his continuing. Other highlights include the chugging, psychedelic Beatles-esque If I’m Gonna Go Anywhere, the gentle and tender love songs Sweet Smile, and dating-themed thrumming Goldy, and among others, the closing track with its lovely brass-swelling outro, Let’s Be Lucky, which despite all that’s occurred in his turbulent life, brings a wistful optimism. Good for him. Out on Play It Again Sam.
New to comment? It is quick and easy. You just need to login to Disqus once. All is explained in About/FAQs ...
Feel free to recommend more new albums and comment below. You can also use the contact page, or find more on social media: Song Bar Twitter, Song Bar Facebook. Song Bar YouTube, and Song Bar Instagram. Please subscribe, follow and share.
Song Bar is non-profit and is simply about sharing great music. We don’t do clickbait or advertisements. Please make any donation to help keep the Bar running: