20 YEARS AGO: Eels - Climbing To The Moon

Another helping from one of 1998's finest albums. Mark Everett (aka E) wrote the bleak and brilliant second Eels album Electro Shock Blues, following his sister's suicide and his mother's battle with terminal lung cancer. Many of the record's songs deal with his response to their passing and coming to terms with suddenly becoming the only living member of the Everett family (until the birth of his son Archie a few years ago).

The sad, beautifully yearning 'Climbing To The Moon' is a gorgeous track that ranks as one of the Eels' very best. One of the era's finest songs, and this one wasn't even released as a single. Apparently the song draws upon frontman E's experiences visiting his sister at a mental health facility shortly before her death. Read a review and appraisal of 'Electro Shock Blues' HERE.

The most recent Eels album 'The Deconstruction' was released earlier this year.