As with every new Eels work, the recently-released 'Hombre Lobo' is a remarkably cohesive album that sounds like, you know, an actual album (as opposed to an iTunes playlist). Both sonically and thematically, it's as unique as all the others. Oh, the tortured soul is still there and E (aka Mark Oliver Everett, who is the Eels) remains quite the spokesperson for loners, outsiders and recluse-types.

"The idea of desire was interesting to me," E tells Spinner. "Musically, in my mind, that equaled the electric guitar. And something kind of in your face."

But having bared his soul in an autobiography last fall ('Things the Grandchildren Should Know') and then having starred in an episode of the PBS series 'NOVA,' which documented his real-life quest to discover his deceased father (both as a person and as a groundbreaking scientist), there's nothing more for E to say about himself right now.

"After doing all that autobiographical type of work, it made me want to go somewhere completely different," he says. "You're sick of your life and yourself, and you need to go outside of it."

So, for 'Hombre Lobo,' E decided to focus on something else: longing and desire. You know, for such a loner, E sure does have a popular output.