This album is perhaps one of the most personal albums of all time. Written as a way to cope over the loss of his mother through terminal lung cancer and his sister’s suicide, Mark Oliver Everett, more commonly known as E, has penned a tragically endearing case in dealing with the decline and the eventual loss of a loved one. E also comes to terms with being the last living member of his family, his father having died of a heart attack years prior in 1982. It is hard not to get upset if you have gone through something even vaguely resembling these experiences, especially since the lyrics to a few songs are taken directly from the last journal entries of his sister and a recollection of what his last visit to his sister was like. The music itself is an eclectic mix of noise rock, jazz, and indie with some classical sensibilities that comes off as atmospheric, dreamy, and eerie when the album is allowed to unfold track by track. There is just something about how E’s voice not only coexists on a basic level, but fundamentally works with the guitars, strings, and percussion. Check out the title track, “Hospital Food”, and “P.S. You Rock My World”.