The Candle Thieves - Breathing (Just For You), out March 21st

The Candle Thieves are back this month with Breathing (Just For You), their new single on Carnival Town Records. It's a lead-in to the expected summer debut album and a follow-on from first single We're All Gonna Die (Have Fun) and EP Sunshine And Other Misfortunes.

I'm detecting traces of Eels (Mr. E's Beautiful Blues) influencing the backing music and a span-the-gap approach to 'proper' music with what can only be described as an 'infectious' pop sound. It's not quite mass-market, but it does more than just fill a niche.

You'll be glad to hear that you can make up your own mind on this one, as the video below gives you a pre-release sneak preview at the track - and thanks to it being on Sunshine And Other Misfortunes, iTunes customers can technically get their hands on the EP version of the track already...

Eels - Tomorrow Morning

Eels reportedly (according to Wikipedia) were named so that their CDs would appear close by frontman Mark Everett's solo work, released under the name 'E'. That was 15 years ago and, whether you knew his voice before then or have only come to know it since, previous albums including Beautiful Freak and Daisies of the Galaxy have become celebrated, if excessively mellow, entries in many of our record collections.

This is Tomorrow Morning, the latest instalment in the Eels franchise - if that's the right word (it's not). There are similarities and differences between this and previous efforts, which probably goes without saying. It's good - which, with E, also really can be taken as a given. Personally, I think with Eels you just have to give it a go and see what you think. That being said, if you want to know what I think, do read on...