Eels, the melodic, low-key indie-pop moniker of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mark Oliver Everett’s band, have released a second new song in as many months with the unexpected arrival of Who You Say You Are.

The new track retains the quintessential Eels feel that Everett, otherwise known as E, achieved widespread success with during the late 1990s and early 2000s, most notably with the albums Beautiful Freak, Electro-Shock Blues, and Souljacker.

The new song is an intensely introspective number, pairing Everett’s soft voice with a simple electric guitar and occasional xylophone flourishes. Nevertheless, there is a hint of optimism in the lyrics, as Everett sings: “For some time now / Been alright on my own / Given the options / I’d rather be alone / Then you came along / And turned it upside down / And now I need to know / Just what it is I found / Are you who you say you are? / Someone I’ll know for long / Or someone who doesn’t deserve a song”.

Last month Everett released a surprise new single Baby Let’s Make It Real, Eels’ first new music since 2018’s The Deconstruction, which was the band’s twelfth studio album, and their first, at the time, in nearly four years.

Who You Say You Are, which Everett took to his official Facebook page to describe as “a way to forget your troubles for two minutes and fifty-five seconds”, has been released as the B-side on a limited edition 7-inch single version of Baby Let’s Make It Real, which is a more uptempo number, propelled by some looping drums and a catchy chorus.

Away from music, Everett wrote an autobiography that shares the name Things The Grandchildren Should Know with the Eels song. He also appeared in the BAFTA-winning television documentary Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives about the work of his father – the renowned American physicist Hugh Everett – and his many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.

Watch the official lyric video for Who You Say You Are here.

Watch the official lyric video for Baby Let’s Make It Real here.

To order the Baby Let’s Make It Real / Who You Say You Are 7-inch, or for more information about Everett or the band, visit the official Eels website.

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.