CAGE THE ELEPHANT
MATT SHulTz could make it through only one take. The lead singer of the Kentucky rock band Cage the Elephant was recently in the studio recording “Goodbye,” 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. Af- terward, he walked out and canceled the next two weeks of work.
“There were times like that,” says his brother, guitarist Brad Shultz. “We’d think he was getting back to normal, then he would melt down.” Admits Matt, “There was a fair amount of self-medication . . . and intense isolation.”
Those erratic sessions produced Social
Cues (out April 19th), which adds new depth to the band’s sound — hear “Ready to Let Go,” about a trip to Pompei, where Matt and his wife realized they needed to divorce. “It’s hard when you love each other, but it just won’t work,” he says. “I’m glad to be past it.”
After nearly a decade, Cage had their biggest success with 2015’s Tell Me I’m
Pretty, produced by Dan Auerbach. After that, they wanted to be more ambitious. Inspired by Brian Jones’ playing on Stones classics like “Under My Thumb,” they decided to get members on instruments they weren’t used to — guitarist Nick Bockrath traded guitar for Mellotron for the propulsive opener, “Broken Boy,” and for pedal steel on the psychedelic anthem “Black Madonna.”
The Shultz brothers are known to fight. They had one related to “Night Running,” a reggae track about a devious night on the town. “Matt was leaving early every day, and I got super-pissed and told him he wasn’t trying,” says his brother. They sent it to Beck, whom they’d met at an event; he returned it 24 hours later with two swaggering rap verses. “We feel like we’ve pushed ourselves, and that’s all we can ask for,” says Brad. “We would be writing if we were still writing at Tidball’s in Bowling Green.”