Neon Pills and Psychosis makes alternative revelations
Cage the Elephant is known for dominating the indie and alternative rock landscape with their mastery of sound and intense energy, dealing out top-charting songs and undeniable hits like “Cigarette Daydreams” and “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked.” Following Cage the band’s five-year-long break, along with lead singer Matthew Shultz’s arrest and withdrawal from medication-induced psychosis, Cage the Elephant breaks through with an honest confession of long-awaited emotional outbreaks. Neon Pill carries the audience through the withdrawals and woes of the band’s trauma and builds an enclosed loop of sound evoking emotional bliss and genuine alternative turmoil.
The album begins with “HiFi (True Light),” a definitive rock classic and nostalgic welcome to the band’s utmost mastery of tune. The album introduces us with a signature rhythm guitar, bashing into bright and sharp tunes, a borderline of psychedelic rhythm and the depressed tonal remnants of the band’s last album Social Cues. The lyrics highlight the reason why Cage the Elephant won a Grammy Award for “ Best Rock Album” twice. They switch between dialogue and poetic composition effectively with moments such as “Catching circles under my eyes / I’m in Heaven, I’m in Paradise / Not your savior, I’m a wall fly.” The chorus brings home rhythmic clarity, an honest cascade of personal melancholy and standalone lyrics like “Text you in the morning, see me in a true light.”
The album pointedly highlights each song with its own melodic and rhythmic integrity. Songs like “Float in the Sky” and “Rainbow” carry with it a natural guitar and bass sound that has made Cage the Elephant iconic in the past, even mimicking euphoric melodies that borderline a happy Beatles progression. However, the disastrous and melancholy lyrics create an undoubting emotional unrest, building a mixture of crazed passion and sober understanding. “Good time” brings forth this clarity with an ironic slapstick to its self-awareness. The opposition of the repetitive pop chorus, and the sarcastic and depressed tone of lyrical verse brings forth a standalone hit. The chorus preaches, “Everybody had a good laugh / laugh until we cried / Everybody have a good time.” This repetitiveness is left to be paired with sarcastic metaphor and figurative imagery within the verse, including: “Last Standing, grasping for / relief, a fracture in the fantasy,” as well as “too shy to share my tears in / dreams, I scream.” These undertones overall highlight the genuine rock and diversity that each song can bring to the table.
The album itself deals with the highs and lows of this five-year break. Title track “Neon Pills” hammers in the bright guitars and fun melodies to encapsulate the personal story of Matthew Schultz. Songs like “MetaVerse” and “Ball and Chains” further drive these trauma-filled moments with epic rock anthems. To gain a nice sense of diversity, the album also features acoustic and piano performances. “Out Loud” grapples with the death of lead singer Matthew Schultz’s father, encompassing his tragedy with grand piano melodies and a stellar vocal performance. The honest reflection of the song can be felt through the piano’s heavy solo tune and isolated vocals, with only violin as accompaniment. Verses like “Stick and poke tattoos meant nothing to me / as far as east to west and not a memory,” bring forth a modern introspective regret, only to be emotionally encapsulated in a rising and powerful chorus: “Man I really messed up now / too afraid to say it out loud / I can barely breathe whom I tryna be / I’m still tryna figure it out / Am I too proud to say it out loud?”
The Outro track “Over your Shoulder ” brings a sense of closure to the album as a whole. An acoustic guitar hums in a cinematic way, just as a hero disappears into a Hollywood sunset. Such honesty and personal anguish brings stellar emotional moments and connection only Cage the Elephant can offer.
Overall, Cage the Elephant brought forth an unforgettable experience, hidden within a lifetime of pain and doubt that no one else can describe. The album enthralls with undoubting anthems begging to be replayed, and with open arms welcomes a grand return of the historic band itself. Hopefully, Neon Pills foreshadows further albums that reached the same threshold of genuine sound and honest expression, and listeners can receive more of the band and Matthew Schultz’s story, writing and composing in an untainted fluorescent light.
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