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Eels are back with Cookie Happened, their 16th studio album and another instalment in Mark Oliver Everett’s long-running habit of finding something oddly comforting in life’s darker corners. The title comes from Cookie Monster’s rather lovely bit of philosophy: “Me no cry because cookie is finished. Me smile because cookie happened.” It’s a simple idea, but one that E - as Everett is known - has taken to heart, using it as a starting point for a record about mortality, mistakes, the little victories that make life worthwhile and the fact that none of us are going to be here forever. Cheerful stuff, then, in the usual Eels sort of way.
The first single, “Cap In Hand”, sets the tone with a bruised, weary sound and a narrator who’s finally facing up to his own mistakes and trying to put things right. “All Forgotten” takes a more philosophical look at the idea of eventually disappearing into the great unknown, while “I’m On Standby” is a warmer, more tender song about the comfort of having a friend who’ll always be there when you need them. There’s that familiar Eels mix of melancholy, dark humour and unexpected warmth, with Everett managing to make some pretty heavy subjects feel surprisingly human.
Across its 12 tracks, Cookie Happened moves between regret, reflection and the occasional absurdity of being alive. Titles such as “Bamboozled Again”, “Lost And Barking” and “Congratulations To Me” suggest Everett hasn’t lost his eye for life’s ridiculous side, while “New Story” and “The Way I Was Made” hint at a more searching, introspective approach. The album follows 2024’s EELS TIME! and finds him looking back over the experiences that have shaped him, without getting too caught up in nostalgia or pretending he’s got everything figured out.
There’s always been something appealing about Eels’ ability to make songs that acknowledge how difficult life can be without wallowing in it. Everett has spent much of his career writing about grief, loneliness and the general business of muddling through, but there’s often a little glimmer of hope tucked away somewhere in the gloom. Cookie Happened sounds like another reminder that things don’t have to last forever to have mattered in the first place. And if that means taking a bit of life advice from a blue Muppet, well, stranger things have happened.
Tracklist
Clobbered
Cap In Hand
All Forgotten
Bamboozled Again
Lost And Barking
Taking Pictures
New Story
Congratulations To Me
One Razzle, One Dazzle
I’m On Standy
Dum Dums
The Way I Was Made