Everything's coming up
'Daisies' on Eels' latest CD

In this story:

Humor, sweetness
Gold rush

By Donna Freydk
Reporting for CNN Interactive

(CNN) -- The Eels' last album, "Electro-Shock Blues," served as an audio funeral for lead singer (E)'s mother, who died after a long illness, and his older sister, who committed suicide.

So it's safe to say that, by comparison to the earlier album, the Eels' latest release, "Daisies of the Galaxy," is nearly Britney Spears-like in its peppiness.

	AUDIO
"flyswatter" 3230K AIFF or 480K WAV sound "jeannie's diary" 384K AIFF or 576K WAV sound Sound courtesy of Dreamworks Records

"This one is more obviously hopeful," says (E), whose real name is Mark Everett. "This is as close as I can get to making a blatantly happy album."

"Daisies of the Galaxy" opens with the sounds of a somewhat joyous funeral on "Grace Kelly Blues" and gets churlishly more upbeat from there. (E), who recorded the album in his Los Angeles basement, wrote and produced "Daisies," which features Grant Lee Buffalo's Grant Lee Phillips on bass and R.E.M.'s Peter Buck on piano, guitar and bass.

The Eels' critically lauded "Electro-Shock Blues," released in 1998, featured "Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor," "Going to Your Funeral (Parts I and II)," "Hospital Food," "The Medication Is Wearing Off" and "Cancer for the Cure" -- hardly uplifting stuff.

This time around, (E)'s acerbity is tinged with far more humor -- even some sweetness. The album has two songs about daisies, and what could be more cheering than that? (E) asks. After all, a daisy breaks through the ground to flower in the air -- a sure sign of hope, he says.

Not that an Eels album is an antidote to depression, he quickly points out.

"I'm not interested in being a one-trick pony and having every album be about rage or sorrow or something," he says. "There's more to life than that."

(E)'s own life has revolved around music. He grew up in northern Virginia but has lived in Los Angeles for more than a decade. As a kid, he played drums at home, annoying his older sister.

"We of course had fights, because I wasn't supposed to play my drums in the house, but she was always supportive," he recalls. "Later on, she was really into it."

(E) dreamed of making music for a living and ended up signing with Mercury Records. He released two solo albums -- 1992's "A Man Called (E)" and 1993's "Broken Toy Shop" -- for the label. And while experimenting with an electric guitar, (E) came up with much of the material that ended up on "Beautiful Freak," which he recorded under the Eels name. That album also yielded the band's biggest hit to date, "Novocaine for the Soul."

"The only thing that's fun about having a hit record is not playing it at your concerts," says (E). "Actually, we do play hit songs at our concerts. But you might not recognize them. We usually rework them."

If there's a common thread running through "Daisies," it's the imprint of rock legend Neil Young, who hosted a barbecue at his home where (E) met R.E.M.'s Buck, who ended up contributing to "Daisies."

The other connection is even more curious.

"My sister used to play Neil Young's 'After the Gold Rush' over and over and over again. Interestingly enough, the piano that's actually used on 'After the Gold Rush' is what I'm playing on 'Daisies of the Galaxy,' " says (E). "I wish my sister were still alive so I could tell her that."

Yet the big names on his album, and the major label (DreamWorks) behind him notwithstanding, (E) says his own raison d'etre is clearer-cut.

"My goals have been met," he says. "I made this album. The act of making it is the important part for me. I don't care if the rest of the world is into it or not. It doesn't make the art any less worthwhile."