Mark Oliver Everett has now been making music with his sharp, personal studio-pop project Eels for a quarter century. Two years ago, Everett came out with the album The Deconstruction, his first in four years. Today, with no prior warning, Eels have come out with a new single called “Baby Let’s Make It Real,” and it’s their first new thing since The Deconstruction.

“Baby Let’s Make It Real” is a lush, classicist piece of extremely California pop music. It’s full of impeccably recorded keyboards and (I think) mellotrons, and there’s some real syncopation in its drums. Lyrically, the song is a whole lot less tortured than many of Everett’s records. It’s a plea to turn an ongoing thing into an actual romantic relationship, and Everett’s vocals are so deadpan that it’s hard to tell whether or not there’s any irony in there: “Baby, you’re a full meal, the way you make me feel/ It’s kind of a big deal/ Baby, let’s make it real.”

We don’t yet know whether Everett is working on a longer project or whether “Baby Let’s Make It Real” is just a one-off that he put together during quarantine. We also don’t know whether that cover art is a Who Framed Roger Rabbit reference. Whatever the case, you can listen below.

“Baby Let’s Make It Real” is out now on the streaming platforms.