I don't know what happened to us, E. It didn't used to be like this. You'd release an album every two years or so and they were great. Your Blinking Lights is one of the finest albums I'm sure I've ever heard. I spent the day it came out travelling between record stores trying to find it, until I gave up and I went to Target and they were the only place that had it---evidence against the usefulness of independent record stores, for sure, and that was five years ago. I was twenty and that album held my hand through what was, at the time, the most devastating heart break I had ever experienced.

But now you, you're breaking my heart. Hombre Lobo was one thing, because at times it sounded like you were revisiting the sounds of Souljacker and I appreciated that, but the rest of the album was uneven, listening like it was an outtake jukebox from all your different eras. It had a few good songs, but overall it just wasn't an album I cared to listen to. When you announced that you were going to release two more albums in the next year I was floored: you're increasing your discography by 50% in such a short time, this will be totally rad.

But then I didn't even write about End Times. It was just too depressing and there was nothing on it that made me feel like I'd ever want to listen to it again after the first time. For someone who always made sadness sound like it was something to be happy about, you released the first album that sounded like you were sad about being sad, and it all seemed so resigned. I couldn't stomach it.

Initial reviews from fans of Tomorrow Morning suggested that this was a return to form in some way. I wondered briefly if you churned out two shitty outtake albums so you could fulfill your contract to Vagrant so you could then release another Blinking Lights-style masterpiece on your own (you do sing "My record label hates me" on this album). I became a little excited: this really might just be awesome.

But it's not. In some ways it's just Hombre Lobo Pt. 2. It starts off so strong, too. "I Am A Hummingbird" is one of the most unique songs you've ever made, and it's almost shocking how beautiful it is. The near-subconscious string flourishes in the background on "What I Have To Offer" take a so-so song and turn it into something lovely and uplifting.

But then there's songs like "My Baby Loves Me" which seems to borrow from Blinking Lights' play book, the same loud and awkward place "Going Fetal" came from. "The Man" could be an Eels parody song, with the lyric "ask the birds singin' I am the man". These sorts of things were cute at one time, but now they just seem kind of tired. With the exception of "This Is Where It Gets Good" and "I Am A Hummingbird" I feel like I've heard all these songs before.

It doesn't really stop there either. I can't hear "After The Earthquake" without waiting for your voice to come in singing "if you see Natalie..." because I swear it's the same song. "Spectacular Girl" might as well just be the same song as "Sweet Little Thing" even if they're not that similar, it's the same damn song.

I'm just hurt, you know, E. I don't think it's too much for me to expect from you another album that is on par with Blinking Lights. Tomorrow Morning isn't disappointing so much because the songs aren't good---they're Eels songs, after all, and you are my favorite band---but because it all sounds so rehashed and mashed together. This isn't an album, and neither were the other two. These are just collections of songs loosely united under a common theme, and it seems like there is only one album of really good songs between all three.

I am disappoint.

Sincerely, Stuy Parker