American alt-rock band ‘Cage The Elephant’ return with their fifth studio album ‘Social Cues,’ the bands first full album outing since 2015’s ‘Tell Me I’m Pretty’ to provide a collection of 13 radio-friendly tracks that although shy away from too much experimentation, are still able to provide an enjoyable listening experience.

If, like me before listening to this album, you are not too familiar with Cage The Elephant and maybe the only song you know is their 2008 hit ‘Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked’ and what you are expecting is a collection of songs all very similar to that, then you are in for a surprise. Upon first listening, the album, both musically and in the artwork for the lyric video for single ‘House Of Glass,’ it seems as if lead singer Matt Shultz spent the past year listening to Julian Casablancas’ side project The Voidz and their album ‘Virtue,’ as to me many of the songs draw similarities to tracks from ‘Virtue’ like ‘Leave It In My Dreams.’ But as a whole the album is much more than that, and lyrically tackles subjects such as grief and how to deal with it, something Shultz went through during the writing process for the album as a result of his divorce, which almost acts as the muse for the album.

The album opens with ‘Broken Boy,’ which despite the name and lyrics creates an incredibly feel-good tone for the album to start on. One of the highlights on the album however is the second and title track ‘Social Cues’ which from the first listen is the song that most fits the qualities of a ‘radio-friendly’ track, with its standard verse, chorus, verse, chorus, chorus format, and a very modern pop-rock sound. Lyrically though it still tells a story and touches on Shultz and his anxiety, and the pressure he feels to keep his energetic and frantic stage persona up at all time. It truly is one of the best songs on this album and deserves to be the title track.

CTE even manage to recruit experimental genius Beck for ‘Night Running’ to create a song bordering on reggae-rock, something Beck has been familiar with over the years, and is a very different style for the band, but oddly enough, is a style they are able to pull off. The song touches on subjects like vampires and x-ray goggles yet still creates a smooth sounding, groovy tune. The idea of the band experimenting with other genres is also demonstrated in the very Tame Impala, psychedelic sounding ‘Black Madonna’ which sees Shultz pen another song that talks of feeling empty and meaningless.

Another highlight of the album is ‘Ready To Let Go’ which, and this is what it I think manages to show Shultz’s skill as a writer, uses a trip to Pompeii to show the realisation from Shultz that he and his wife needed a divorce. This album does a good job of showing the ability of Shultz to tell a story, but where it comes up short is the ability of the music or the lyrics to be able to make the listener feel anything related to the subject matter. The album clearly came from some dark times in Shultz’s life, whether it be from the loss of close friends or the breakdown of his marriage, but there aren’t any songs on the album, bar maybe the closing song ‘Goodbye,’ that can help the listener to relate and understand. I think the vocals on CTE songs have never been the main reason to listen, however even on a song like ‘Love’s The Only Way,’ where so much has been stripped back to allow for some connection between listener and creator, you are still left with some pretty uninspiring vocals. It shows that upbeat songs like ‘Dance Dance’ and ‘The War Is Over’ truly are the strong point for this band, and its the quality of those songs that save the weaker songs.

Overall, as music, the album is very good. Not many songs stay true to the garage rock sound CTE fans may be used too, but the sound they have created works and is worn well by the band. Despite the album coming from a dark point in life for Shultz, the music doesn’t at any point come across as dark and eerie, instead playing up to a very commercial and mainstream sound. This isn’t an issue as such, but for a 13 track LP you would hope to receive at least one or two tracks that ventured outside a comfort zone and differed from a concept of love tearing walls down or feeling empty and meaningless. Yes, the band have created radio-friendly sound, but it’s a sound that makes for enjoyable listening.

Top Songs: The War Is Over, Tokyo Smoke, Social Cues

Overall Score; 4/5