Mark Oliver Everett, a.k.a. the Eels’ main man, “E” (above), faces down the dangerous title challenge and comes up a winner on the aptly named “Wonderful, Glorious.”

An “anything goes” approach to recording, which included opening up to let his bandmates collaborate on the songwriting, pays off in this captivating collection that finds the (not always reliable) narrators of the songs at pivotal junctures and fighting their way to the next step, hopefully, a little closer to the light.