Songfacts®:

• Frontman Jim James explained the title "Evil Urges" to AOL: "It's kind of all tied into religion confusing people's morality and people always wanting to think that something is either bad or good, whereas in reality I feel that most stuff is more confusing than that. So basically, it's about being confused and feeling that most people are searching for some kind of answer that sometimes people think religion can bring. And lots of times, people will do things that they think are good in the name of religion, but oftentimes they're destructive for the world, although people think they're really being good - or maybe they are being good, 'cause I'm kind of confused about the whole thing."
• "Evil Urges" is the title track to the fifth My Morning Jacket album. Jim James told Mojo magazine May 2008 that the title was one of many on a sheet of paper but was "winking its eye at me. Some people were concerned because they thought Evil Urges sounded like a death metal record. Once people hear it they'll realize it's kinda the opposite."
• The album introduced another sonic shift for the folksy Americana turned psychedelic-rock band by incorporating a range of genres, including retro electronic and soul influences. In a 2010 interview with the defunct webzine HitQuarters, Evil Urges producer Joe Chiccarelli (The White Stripes, The Strokes) described the demos as sounding "very groove-oriented with hints of old-fashioned R&B," giving the album an urban feel compared to the rural sound of their previous work. Despite fans being split over the new vibe, the album outperformed its predecessors on the charts, peaking at #9 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
• The band previously examined the destructive effects of religion on their 2005 tune "Gideon."
• My Morning Jacket performed most of the album's tracklist during their landmark rain-drenched performance at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, in the summer of 2008. They took the stage at midnight during a light sprinkle that turned into a torrential downpour in the first half of their four-hour set.
  
  The band is known for pushing themselves hard - sometimes too hard. Years of toiling through a relentless touring schedule caught up with James during their Z tour in 2005, when he developed pneumonia that progressed into pericarditis, an inflammation of the lining of the heart. It was a wake-up call for the singer, who vowed to slow down, mostly.
  
  "Whenever I get off the road I go through periods of intense detox – no drinking, no smoking, no nothing," he told Rolling Stone a few weeks after the band's wet adventure at Bonnaroo. "But I'm still worse than I should be."
• The band performed this, along with "I'm Amazed," on the May 10, 2008 episode of Saturday Night Live.
• The album earned the band their first Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album, but the prize went to Radiohead for In Rainbows. MMJ has some loose ties with Radiohead: Their previous album, Z, was produced by John Leckie, who helmed Radiohead's sophomore album, The Bends, and inspired Rolling Stone to suggest My Morning Jacket was on the fast track to becoming the American version of the English rock band. My Morning Jacket also covered Radiohead's "The National Anthem" during live performances in 2024.