Album Review: Cage The Elephant - 'Neon Pill'
Kentucky born and bred six-piece Cage The Elephant let loose on their sixth full-length album, diving into restless sentiments and turbulent experiences.
Cage The Elephant have pioneered in their corner of the music industry. Their self-titled first album gained them a huge following in the USA and UK, with multiple successful singles stemming from the LP. Having won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album twice, it’s no surprise that they’re smooth sailing through the world of alternative and indie rock.
Their sixth studio album, Neon Pill, stands at a well-sized twelve tracks. Kicking things off is Hifi (True Light), and after a short intro of warm guitar string plucking, it’s not long until we’re launched into the distinctive vocals of Matthew Shultz. The combination of his unmistakable voice, groovy guitar riffs, and dancing drums ease us into a well-executed journey of an album.
Previously, Cage The Elephant have been heavily influenced by the likes of Pixies and Nirvana, embodying classic rock and 90s alternative. However, Neon Pill is an LP that the band have distanced themselves from external influence, and really looked in on themselves. Speaking on the album, Matthew Schultz said: “To me, Neon Pill is the first record where we were consistently uninfluenced, and I mean that in a positive way […] With this album, having gone through so much, life had almost forced us into becoming more and more comfortable with ourselves. We weren’t reaching for much outside of the pure experience of self expression, and simultaneously not necessarily settling either. We just found a uniqueness in simply existing.”
With the band having gone through exceedingly difficult experiences during lockdown, songs such as Rainbow touch on these feelings. The lyrics ‘I just float into the sky/I just float into my mind/Tell everyone I’m shy/No I can’t escape the clouds/And I can’t escape the hounds’ give an expressive slice into life for the band and the desperation of wanting to escape something that, at the time, didn’t have an end in sight. Sinister instrumental tones at the end of the track give an uncertain progression into the rest of the album until we are hit with the upbeat drumming of fifth song, Metaverse.
Metaverse gives us yet another outlook on dealing with tumultuous events, one more of ‘What the hell, oh well, that’s life’, and dealing with the things that life throws at us as they come. Paired with seventh track Ball and Chain, they do a fantastic job at making each other feel pacey and driven, sandwiching the stand-alone piano song, Out Loud.
Out Loud was the second single to be released from the album at the end of February and has served as a bold diversion away from the band’s usual rock sound. However, despite its differences, it holds an important place in the album in creating diversity and pace, and holds great sentimental value towards the brothers of the band: Matthew and Brad Schultz. Speaking on the subject, Matthew remarked “‘Out Loud’ is very connected to my father. My dad’s the reason we discovered music in the first place. When he died, ‘Out Loud’ just poured out of me. My efforts towards the song were deeply rooted in paying honour to him, and I knew it meant a lot to Brad too.”
Good Time has a stand-out angry riff coupled with stomping drums. Alongside the hopeful and positive lyrics, the instrumentals give an undercurrent of grit and sarcasm - almost like sitting at a birthday party you’ve arranged, yet everyone but you are enjoying it. Shy Eyes has a similar chopping angry speed with a chorus that packs a powerful punch, and is sure to be one that crowds will be yelling at live shows.
Heading towards the end of the album, Silent Picture and Same have the perfect blend of summer sounds - easy breezy listens veiled in warm guitar tones and cooling tunes. They settle us in nicely for the twelfth and final song, Over Your Shoulder. The slower paced tempo and softer vocals give a comfortably grounding sense of finality to the album, creating a well-rounded end to a rollercoaster of emotions tightly packed into the space of 38 minutes.
Having avoided their previous habits of external inspiration, it seems Cage The Elephant has excelled in creating a wonderfully thought out twelve track album focused on looking inwards instead of outwards, and really being in tune with their often bottled up emotions.
Neon Pill is due for release May 17thvia Columbia Records.CageTheElephantare soon to be kicking off their 45-date North American tour on June 20th, starting in Salt Lake City. They will be joined by Young the Giant and Bakar as support on most dates.
Words by Cameron Cookson
