Melophobia
| Melophobia | ||||
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| Studio album by Cage the Elephant | ||||
| Released | October 8, 2013 | |||
| Recorded | 2012–2013 at St. Charles, Nashville, Tennessee | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, garage rock, psychedelic rock | |||
| Length | 37:23 | |||
| Label | RCA | |||
| Producer | Jay Joyce | |||
| Cage the Elephant chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Melophobia | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Alternative Press |  |
| Consequence of Sound | C+ |
| Los Angeles Times | |
| Paste | 8.0/10 |
| Rolling Stone | |
| USA Today | |
Melophobia is the third studio album by American rock band Cage the Elephant. Recorded at St. Charles in Nashville, Tennessee and produced by Jay Joyce, the album was released on October 8, 2013 through RCA Records. It is also the final album that features lead guitarist Lincoln Parish.
For Melophobia, Cage the Elephant attempted to distance themselves from comparisons of the sound that influenced them, shutting themselves off from as much recorded music as possible.Melophobia means "fear of music"; the band did not view the term literally, but rather thought of the term as "a fear of creating music to project premeditated images of self, like catering to cool, or making music to project an image of being intellectual or artistic or poetic, rather than just trying to be an honest communicator."
Frontman Matthew Shultz viewed the record as a battle "to remain transparent and to remain honest." Isaac Brock (frontman of Modest Mouse) once told his friend Tiger Merritt (of Morning Teleportation) that "if you're not slightly embarrassed to sing the lyrics, you're probably not writing a good song," and encouraged him to refrain from attempting to write poetically but rather naturally. Shultz said this made sense to him. When writing new tracks, Shultz would often doodle an image alongside his lyrics for visual reference.
"Come a Little Closer" was inspired by a morning in which Shultz woke up in a São Paulo hotel and opened his window to watch the sunrise over the favelas. Finding the makeshift housing comparable to an anthill, he soon found himself wondering what each soul inside each borough felt, whether it be heartache, love, loss or joy. Shultz viewed "Telescope" as the breakthrough song in writing honestly; he based it on his loneliness. During a bout of seasonal depression, he spent time in his new home for the first time after nonstop touring and found himself "doing life's meaningless tasks to fill the void to pass the time", including obsessively decorating and feeling obligated to spend time in each room. Black Widow features the usage of brass horns which Brad had been anxious to use for a while, however Matt was against the inclusion of such instrumentation which would eventually lead to a "big argument"
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Wikipedia