{"id":792590,"date":"2019-01-31T09:55:23","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T16:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=786774"},"modified":"2019-01-31T09:55:23","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T16:55:23","slug":"cage-the-elephant-let-it-bleed-on-new-album-social-cues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/music-news\/cage-the-elephant-let-it-bleed-on-new-album-social-cues\/","title":{"rendered":"Cage the Elephant Let It Bleed on New Album \u2018Social Cues\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matt Shultz could make it through only one take. The lead singer of the Kentucky rock band Cage the Elephant<\/a> was recently in the studio recording \u201cGoodbye,\u201d a John Lennon-inspired ballad Shultz wrote for his wife as their seven-year relationship was ending. Shultz delivered it lying on the studio floor. Afterward, he walked out and canceled the next two weeks of work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were times like that,\u201d says his brother, guitarist Brad Shultz. \u201cWe\u2019d think he was getting back to normal, then he would melt down.\u201d Admits Matt of those sessions, \u201cThere was a fair amount of self-medication\u2009and intense isolation.\u201d Those erratic sessions produced Social Cues<\/em> (out April 19th), which adds new depth to the band\u2019s sound \u2014 hear \u201cReady to Let Go,\u201d about a trip to Pompei, where Matt and his wife realized they needed to divorce. \u201cIt\u2019s hard when you love each other, but it just won\u2019t work,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m glad to be past it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shultz leaned into the darkness of his divorce. \u201cI saw a depth of potential evil that I had never experienced firsthand,\u201d he says. Watching Netflix\u2019s I Am a Killer<\/em>, he started writing from the perspective of \u201cthis character: this soft-spoken, shy-eyed murderer.\u201d<\/p>\n

After nearly a decade, Cage had their biggest success with 2015\u2019s Tell Me I\u2019m Pretty<\/em>, produced by Dan Auerbach. After that, they wanted to be more ambitious. Inspired by how Brian Jones played unconventional instruments on Stones classics like \u201cUnder My Thumb,\u201d they decided to get members on instruments they weren\u2019t used to \u2014 guitarist Nick Bockrath traded guitar for Mellotron for the propulsive opener, \u201cBroken Boy,\u201d and for pedal steel on the psychedelic anthem \u201cBlack Madonna.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cage<\/p>\n

Cage the Elephant in Los Angeles. Photo credit: Neil Krug<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Shultz brothers don\u2019t always get along. \u201cWe would have this weird tension around each other,\u201d says Brad. \u201cAnd then it would come to a head. Sometimes I\u2019m really in love with what I\u2019m doing, but then I over-read Matt\u2019s reaction and then it hurts me \u2013 I\u2019ll think he doesn\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

One track they disagreed on was \u201cNight Running,\u201d an Iggy Pop-meets-reggae track about a devious night on the town. The song had been in limbo for years, and Brad felt he wasn\u2019t taking it seriously. \u201cMatt was leaving early every day, and I got super-pissed and told him he wasn\u2019t trying,\u201d says his brother. They sent it to Beck, whom they\u2019d met at an event; he returned it 24 hours later with two swaggering rap verses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel like we\u2019ve pushed ourselves, and that\u2019s all we can ask for,\u201d says Brad. \u201cWe became better friends. It doesn\u2019t mean that we got along the whole time, but in the end, adversity brings you closer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Below, watch Cage the Elephant\u2019s video for their new single, \u201cReady to Let Go.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n