This summer American rock band Cage The Elephant are going on an extensive North American tour again. The tour will be in support of their sixth studio album “Neon Pill”. The album is scheduled to release this May on the 17th through RCA records.
After a five year hiatus since their 2019 Grammy winning album “Social Cues“, the band released the album’s title track on January 19th. The following single “Out Loud” has been out last Thursday.
“Out Loud” – Story behind the song
An emotional piano ballad, the song talks about front man Matthew Shultz and guitarist Brad Shultz’s struggles with their father’s demise. The Shultzes lost their father nine months before the pandemic. This along with the deaths of other friends left Matthew down with depression and a mental breakdown. He sought treatment and came out of the hospital with a new sense of self.
Maybe this explains why the band is exploring new territories musically, while still maintaining the same uncompromising creativity and cathartic performances.
What does Cage The Elephant front man Matthew have to say?
“Maybe it’s so straightforward and honest, because I didn’t know if it would see the light of day,” says Matthew. “‘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 honor to him, and I knew it meant a lot to Brad too,” Matthew Shultz remarks. He also states it was a subconscious apology of sorts before he was fully capable of grasping the gravity of it all.
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As per Matthew, the band has settled into finding their own voice on this album. “We’ve always drawn inspiration from artists we love, and at times we’ve even emulated some of them to a certain degree. With this album, having gone through so much, life had almost forced us into becoming more and more comfortable with ourselves,” says Matthew.
Producer John Hill, who also worked with the band for the last album “Social Cues”, oversaw the sessions for Neon Pill which took place in El Paso, Texas, New York City, Nashville and Los Angeles. Pre-order “Neon Pill” now!
Cage The Elephant will be playing more of this album this summer on a 45 date North American tour. Tickets go on sale to the general public on March 8th. For full details, check out the band’s website!
