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Extreme Witchcraft is the fourteenth studio album by American indie rock band Eels, released through E Works/PIAS Recordings on January 28, 2022.[6] It was preceded by the singles "Good Night on Earth", "Steam Engine", "The Magic", and "Amateur Hour". The album will be supported by the 2023 Lockdown Hurricane world tour.[7][8]

Extreme Witchcraft
Studio album by Eels
Released	January 28, 2022 (2022-01-28)
Recorded	March – October 2021
Length	38:36
Label	E Works PIAS
Producer	E John Parish
Eels chronology
Earth to Dora (2020) Extreme Witchcraft (2022)
Singles from Extreme Witchcraft
"Good Night on Earth" Released: September 21, 2021[1] "Steam Engine" Released: October 27, 2021[2] "The Magic" Released: November 23, 2021[3] "Amateur Hour" Released: January 5, 2022[4]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
DIY	[5]

Background

After a 1998 performance of "Last Stop: This Town" on the British music chart program Top of the Pops, Eels' E and PJ Harvey's John Parish met backstage. They discussed the possibility of a collaboration, leading to the two coming up with the 2001 album Souljacker, along with subsequent live performances, the latest being in 2019.[9]

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in early 2021, E received a message from Mark Romanek, the director of the "Novocaine for the Soul" music video. Romanek revealed to E that he had been in an "intense" Souljacker phase, giving E an idea of contacting Parish to see if he would be up for some musical ideas.[9]

Recording

During the beginning of the project, due to differing time zones, E worked at 4 in the morning in his Los Feliz home, while John Parish worked in his HonorSound studio in Bristol. E would occasionally email tracks to his bandmate Koool G Murder, asking for his input and if he wanted to contribute.[9] Parish then flew to Los Angeles, working on most of the album in E's studio with Koool G Murder. E mentions that the album was constructed "very organically and quickly" and was finished in a matter of weeks.[10]

Title

The title originates from a 2018 filing of a restraining order against Beyoncé by her former drummer Kimberly Thompson. She alleges that Beyoncé had cast "magic spells of sexual molestation", murdering her kitten, and practicing "extreme witchcraft, dark magic".[11] E was humored by the news and joked about naming his next album "Extreme Witchcraft".[10]

It was a potential title for the Earth to Dora album, but because of the differing dynamics of the title and the songs themselves, the name was scrapped. The title would come into play again while working with John Parish, giving him buzz words like “give me some voodoo” or “give me something witchy”.[10]

Critical reception

Extreme Witchcraft received generally positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, the album has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100 based on 13 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[12]

Joe Goggins of DIY awarded the album four out of five stars and wrote that it is "as freewheeling as Eels have sounded since Souljacker". Goggins elaborated that the album "casts E as the kind of louche rock frontman he's increasingly presented himself as on stage in recent years", concluding that it "is a record scored through, unmistakably, with a desire to have some fun".[5]

Track listing

Personnel

Eels

• E
• Koool G Murder
• John Parish
• P-Boo

Production

• E – production, recording (all except 5), mixing (all except 5)
• John Parish – production, recording, mixing (1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9)
• Koool G Murder – recording, mixing (all except 5 and 11)
• Ryan Bosch – recording, mixing ("Grandfather Clock Strikes Twelve")
• P-Boo – recording, mixing ("Learning While I Lose")
• Don Hersch – mastering

Charts

Chart performance for Extreme Witchcraft

Chart (2022)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[13]	14
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[14]	4
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[15]	16
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[16]	14
French Albums (SNEP)[17]	49
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18]	7
Scottish Albums (OCC)[19]	12
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[20]	77
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[21]	7
UK Albums (OCC)[22]	37
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[23]	5

References

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