There’s always a danger in releasing a double album. Will it be bloated, with lots of filler? Is the ambition greater than the end result? Very few get it right – and, interestingly, more and more these days artists are opting to record two albums at the same time, but then release them separately rather than in the one hit. Not Eels.

Blinking Lights and Other Revelations is a bold new step for the creative vision of Mark ‘E’ Everett. It’s his most morose work since the heartbreaking duo of daisies of the galaxy and electro-shock blues. Once more, E obsesses on life, love, and a lot of death, and wraps it all up in beautifully gentle pop songs. Gone is the aggression of Souljacker. Forgotten is the angst found on Shootenanny!. Instead, what we have here, are beautifully ruminative pop songs.

Yes, there’s filler. But it’s filler for a reason – little moments of sound drift in and out, like the introductory “Theme From Blinking Lights”. While the likes of “Trouble With Dreams” and “Old Shit/New Shit” may be strident, and “From Which I Came/A Magic World” glistens with strings, it’s the muted turns of the likes of “I’m Going to Stop Pretending That I Didn’t Break Your Heart” that work a treat.

The amount of ideas that E piles up throughout Blinking Lights and Other Revelations is nothing short of head-spinning. At times, it’s like a companion piece to the original Smile, with every lyrical, musical, and emotional part of E put into it. Everything from strings to sonic wizardry can be found on this occasionally unremittingly dark piece, with the theme of loss (be it through death or emotional displacement or sheer forgetfulness) replaying itself over and over. Only E could unleash the sardonic disco stomp of “Going Fetal”, complete with Tom Waits contribution/sample, and make it seem sure that it is to be the latest dance craze.

Perhaps the highlight of Blinking Lights and Other Revelations comes on the second disc, with the brilliant folk song “Dusk: A Peach in the Orchard”. Co-penned by the Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian, it’s just sublime. So could E have sliced ‘n diced and come up with one cohesive disc as opposed to the thirty-three sprawling ninety-plus minutes located here? Absolutely not. The charm of Blinking Lights and Other Revelations is in its scatological nature, with ideas coming faster than the listener can keep up with. This is a double-album that will remain fresh for a very, very long, simply because there’s so many charms to be discovered within.