After a four years of waiting, Cage The Elephant’s highly anticipated fifth studio album is here at last — and it doesn’t disappoint. Cage The Elephant has remained in the forefront of alternative rock for years now, winning the 2017 Grammy for Best Rock Album with their 2015 record Tell Me I’m Pretty. Thematically centered around lead singer Matt Shultz’s recent divorce, the Kentucky band takes us on a journey through a variety of competently created moods in their newest release, Social Cues.
The record opens with a punch, jumping directly into bold intro “Broken Boy.” This track taps into the manic energy channeled in many of Cage The Elephant’s songs. The abrasive, distorted vocals give the tune a garage-rock feel. The following song, title track “Social Cues,” is comparatively calm, although it is far from low energy. The danceable tune is fueled by a bitter criticism of rockstar culture, noted in the repeated line, “People always say, ‘Man, at least you’re on the radio.’” “Social Cues” gives way to the much slower, retro pop inspired tune, “Black Madonna.” Cage The Elephant masterfully adds their own edgy touch to a vintage pop sound. Following “Black Madonna” is an upbeat dance collaboration with alternative legend Beck, entitled “Night Running.” It's clear that Beck brought his influence into the funky tune, which fits perfectly into the discography of both artists, who will be sharing the stage on the upcoming Night Running tour. Next on the album is “Skin and Bones.” This track is a fairly moderate, classic Cage The Elephant song. I'm not going to call it boring, but compared to some of the more ambitious tracks on the album, it doesn't do much to make a name for itself. The following track, “Ready to Let Go,” was the premier single released from the album and ranked high on various alternative charts. The song is once again traditional Cage The Elephant, and lyrically details Shultz's trip to Pompeii that lead to the realization that he and his wife were going to divorce. “Ready to Let Go” is simply a nice, classic alternative rock song, proving that Cage The Elephant is still fully capable of doing what they do best. The next track, “House of Glass,” is potentially the most unique for the band. With verses that lean more towards spoken word than melody, the song once again channels the same crazed hysteria of “Broken Boy” and many of their older works. This is starkly contrasted by the melodic “Love's The Only Way” and its orchestral intro that follow. After “Love's The Only Way,” the band launches into “The War is Over,” a direct and cleanly produced song presenting the message “The war is over, love's already won.” The next track, “Dance, Dance,” turns the volume up, once more making use of the unkempt garage rock edge.“What I’m Becoming” follows with a chilled, dreamy sound, before leading into the dramatic “Tokyo Smoke,” another iconic Cage The Elephant style jam, with driving guitar and intense, distorted vocals. The 13-track record closes with the lengthy and emotionally charged ballad “Goodbye,” in which Shultz mourns the end of his seven year relationship with his former wife. According to a Rolling Stone interview, Shultz recorded the song laying on the studio floor, and could only make it through one take.
Overall, Social Cues is first and foremost a Cage The Elephant album. Shultz’s unique vocal pronunciation adds an extra edge to each and every song, and the instrumentation and production blend perfectly together to create the exact intended mood for each track. The band proved that they have not lost their talent for making powerful alternative rock music. Some have criticized Cage The Elephant for not taking more risks on this new album; while it would have been interesting to see the band experiment with some new sounds, I found it refreshing to get some nice, solid, new Cage The Elephant songs. The band stuck to what they know, but they did so with mastery, and I was not bored with one single song on this album. I believe that Cage The Elephant deserves to remain in the forefront of alternative rock for as long as they make music of this caliber.
Give a listen to Social Cues here: Spotify
Written by Maureen!
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