''Melophobia'' is the third
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by American
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Cage the Elephant
Cage the Elephant is an American rock band formed in 2006 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. They moved to England, U.K. and settled in London in 2008, shortly before their self-titled first album was released. The band currently consists of Matt Shul ...
. Recorded at St. Charles in
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
,
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
and produced by
Jay Joyce
John Joseph "Jay" Joyce is an American record producer, songwriter and session musician. In the 1990s, Joyce, with Chris Feinstein and Brad Pemberton, recorded and toured as Iodine and began working as a record producer, working with artists suc ...
, the album was released on October 8, 2013, through
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
. It is also the final album that features lead guitarist Lincoln Parish.
Background
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
Major-General Sir Isaac Brock KB (6 October 1769 – 13 October 1812) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Guernsey. Brock was assigned to Lower Canada in 1802. Despite facing desertions and near-mutinies, he c ...
(frontman of
Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse is an American rock band formed in 1992 in Issaquah, Washington, and currently based in Portland, Oregon. The founding members are lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. Strongly influenced ...
) once told his friend Tiger Merritt (of
Morning Teleportation
Morning Teleportation is an American psychedelic rock band formed in 2005 when Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States, natives Travis Goodwin (keyboards), Tres Coker (drums), and Paul Wilkerson (bass) met up with Chicago transplant Tiger Merritt ...
) 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.
Composition
"
Come a Little Closer" was inspired by a morning in which Shultz woke up in a
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
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".
Critical reception
''Melophobia'' has received positive reviews from contemporary music critics.
Brian Mansfield
Brian Mansfield (born September 24, 1963) is an American writer and journalist.
Early life and education
Mansfield grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from David Lipscomb High School.
In 1984, Mansfield received a bachelor's degre ...
of ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' designated it "Album of the Week," summarizing that "''Melophobia'' may mean 'fear of music,' but there's nothing to be afraid of: Its glorious chaos makes for thrilling listening."
While August Brown of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' viewed ''Melophobia'' as "a bit more stoned and mellow" than its predecessor, "they're in a class of their own
..Let's just be glad to have such imagination on our drive time rock radio again."
Holly Gleason of ''
Paste'' described the album as "post-modern glam revival," praising Jay Joyce's production and opining that "''Melophobia'' is united in both the urgency of the performances and the seemingly toxic love affairs that populate these songs."
''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' Jon Dolan considered the record a combination of "Sixties garage rock, Seventies punk and Eighties alt-rock into excellently weird new shapes."
Doug McCausland of Alternative Nation said ''Melophobia'' was Cage's strongest record at the time.
''
Alternative Press
Alternative press may refer to:
Individual publications
* ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine
Alternative journalism
* Alternative media
** Alternative media (U.S. political left)
** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...
'' Jason Schreurs wrote that ''Melophobia'' "is, at its best, ambitious and teeming with ideas and, at worst, one heck of a mish-mash of sounds."
Commercial performance
The album debuted at No. 15 on the
''Billboard'' 200 albums chart on its first week of release, with around 18,000 copies sold in the United States. It also debuted at No. 6 on both the
Top Rock Albums
The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...
and the
Alternative Albums
The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...
charts. As of October 2015, the album has sold 174,000 copies in the US.
Track listing
Personnel
;Cage the Elephant
*
Matthew Shultz
Matthew Ray Shultz (born October 23, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician best known as the lead singer and occasional guitarist for the American rock band Cage the Elephant.
Early life
Matthew Ray Shultz was born on 23 Octobe ...
– lead vocals
*Lincoln Parish – lead guitar, keyboards
*Brad Shultz – rhythm guitar, keyboards
*Daniel Tichenor – bass, backing vocals
*
Jared Champion
Jared Lloyd Champion (born February 27, 1983) is the drummer for American rock band Cage the Elephant.
Early life and career
Champion was born and raised in Bowling Green, Kentucky. In high school, Champion, with current bandmate Matt Shultz, ...
– drums
;Additional musicians
*
Jeff Coffin
Jeff Coffin (born August 5, 1965) is an American saxophonist, composer, and educator. He is a three-time Grammy Award winner as a member of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, with whom he performed from 1997 until 2010. In July 2008, Coffin began to ...
– saxophone on "Black Widow", "Hypocrite" and "Teeth"
* Roy Agee – trombone on "Black Widow", "Hypocrite" and "Teeth"
* Mike Haynes – trumpet on "Black Widow", "Hypocrite" and "Teeth"
*
Alison Mosshart
Alison Nicole Mosshart (born November 23, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, artist, and the lead vocalist for the rock bands The Kills and The Dead Weather. She started her musical career in 1995 with the Florida punk rock band Discoun ...
– vocals on "It's Just Forever"
;Production
*
Jay Joyce
John Joseph "Jay" Joyce is an American record producer, songwriter and session musician. In the 1990s, Joyce, with Chris Feinstein and Brad Pemberton, recorded and toured as Iodine and began working as a record producer, working with artists suc ...
– production
* Tom Elmhirst – mixing engineer
* Ben Baptie – assistant mixing engineer
* Jason Hall – engineer
* Matt Wheeler – assistant engineer
* Tom Coyne – mastering
;Artwork
*R. Clint Colburn – cover art
Charts
Certifications
References
{{Authority control
2013 albums
Cage the Elephant albums
RCA Records albums
Albums produced by Jay Joyce