User:Pennylikeacoin/sandbox

Cage The Elephant

Tell Me I'm Pretty (2015-Present)

Cage the Elephant released their fourth album, Tell Me I'm Pretty, on December 18, 2015, with Dan Auerbach, a member of The Black Keys, as the producer. Music critics claim that this album is different from their previous ones in terms of tone and mood, as the album has a more punked-up, garage band, and enthusiastic flavor. The album's first single, Mess Around was first preformed by the band on Thursday, October 29, 2016. The band posted on Twitter stating that the song was inspired by the band Outkast, while also being influenced by another top band in the alternative music industry, The Black Keys. The band then released their second single and fan favorite, Trouble. As a last chance to advertise themselves, Too Late To Say Goodbye was put out to the public before the band released their entire 10-track album. The album was mostly admired by fans and critis for its all-too-real messages and emotional evoking lyrics; many music critics have come to praise the deeper insight to each song. For instance, music analysts claim that Puchin' Bag, is not just about the typical "village hottie" with a bad reputation. It has been analyzed to be about a deeply tortured girl who, stated in the lyrics, "carries a knife." Music critics and analysts have come to believe that lead singer, Matt Shultz, dug a little deeper with the album and purposely made sure all of the lyrics were both more meaningful and more thought provokingly honest than ever before.

As the music itself on the album was meant to be pure and honest, this can also be reflected within the album's cover. Critics and fans everywhere have been wondering the significance and admiring the beauty of the rather unique cover chosen by the band. The team has said to have went on a hunt just to purposely find the right girl to perfectly personify the band's theme. The strawberry blonde, blue eyed cover woman is model Rachel Sykes. In an interview, lead singer Matt Shlutz said “When I looked at her, she was immediately beautiful to the eye but also there was some sense that she’d lived some real life in a way that I could relate to..." He then continued to say that she looked as if she had been "touched" and he was delighted to see how she acted in real life, when she was not be photographed or on camera. Some critics believe her coming out of the water is symbolic of a rebirth of the band, and that her eyes are bright blue as if to represent a new world and a bright new future for the members.