Welcome to Chillers, the ongoing series where we take a look at songs that give me goosebumps. Bi-weekly posting will be done on WordPress with a cross post to Bluesky.

Starting off with just a beat over what sounds like a trash can lid, Novacaine for the Soul by Eels eventually blows up into a funky, swinging explosion of catchy moments.

Written in the heart of the 1990s, the song is a wave of double meanings and oppositions. Like its title, it’s about numbing—detaching from pain, shielding the soul from the weight of life.

The singer craves that sweet numbness, not just in body but in spirit—a complete disconnection from reality to escape fear and exhaustion. Yet as the high takes hold, it becomes its own addiction, a metaphor for the quiet burnout of the modern soul.

It’s the paradox of peace through emptiness—achingly human, deeply relatable.