THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Neon Pill finds Kentucky sextet Cage The Elephant — brothers Matthew Shultz (vocals) and Brad Shultz (guitar), Daniel Tichenor (bass), Jared Champion (drums), Nick Bockrath (lead guitar) and Matthan Minster (guitar, keyboards) — forging new musical ground, while maintaining their uncompromising creativity and wildly cathartic performances.
“To me, Neon Pill is the first record where we were consistently uninfluenced, and I mean that in a positive way,” observes Matthew. “Everything is undoubtedly expressed through having settled into finding our own voice. 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. We weren’t reaching for much outside of the pure experience of self expression, and simultaneously not necessarily settling either. We just found a uniqueness in simply existing.”
From their humble beginnings in Bowling Green, Cage The Elephant have gone on to become one of the generation’s premier rock bands. They have earned dozens of gold, platinum, and multiplatinum certifications, tallied over five billion streams, and notched more than 10 No. 1 records on radio. Their previous albums Tell Me I’m Pretty (2015) and Social Cues (2019) garnered consecutive Best Rock Album Grammy Awards. They are maybe most celebrated for their live show. The stage is their home turf, where they are most comfortable, and their performances — ecstatic and unchained, as well as cathartic and soul bearing — are what Neon Pill achieves in documenting.
Neon Pill, produced by John Hill, materialized during sessions at Sonic Ranch in El Paso, Electric Lady in New York, Sound Emporium in Nashville, Echo Mountain in North Carolina, and at Hill’s own studio in L.A., and alchemized a season of tragedy and turbulence into the 12 tracks of this sixth album. Nine months into the pandemic, Matthew and Brad lost their father. The band weathered the back-to-back deaths of friends, while Matthew experience depression and a mental breakdown, culminating in hospitalization. Coming out on the other side, he learned quite a bit about himself, and gained strength and wisdom. Neon Pill came to life in the eye of the storm.”
