Although chart success in England was an unlikely first step to fame for a band from Bowling Green, Kentucky, mainstream rock band Cage the Elephant achieved just that. Formed by Matt Shultz, Brad Shultz, Jared Champion, Lincoln Parish, and Daniel Tichenor, the group earned a contract with the Relentless label and released the "Free Love" single late in 2007. A support slot for the Pigeon Detectives beckoned in early 2008, and follow-up single "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" reached the Top 40 in June. The group's self-titled debut followed soon after, becoming a respectable commercial and critical success. Two years later they returned with the single "Shake Me Down," while early 2011 saw the release of their second album, Thank You Happy Birthday. In early 2012, the band released the live CD and DVD Live from the Vic in Chicago, which captured performances from their sold-out two-night run at the famous Chicago venue. Returning to the studio, the band recorded its third album, Melophobia. Released in October 2013, the album saw the group collaborating with Alison Mosshart (the Kills, the Dead Weather) and featured the modern rock radio hit "Come a Little Closer." During the Melophobia era, the band parted ways with their founding guitarist, Lincoln Parish, who went on to focus on producing for other artists in Nashville. In late 2015, the band released their fourth album, Tell Me I'm Pretty, which was produced by Dan Auerbach of one-time tourmates the Black Keys.

On Cage The Elephant’s third album, "Melophobia," the rock band was faced with the challenge of finding cohesiveness in the ideas of five different people. After touring for nearly five years straight on their prior releases, 2008’s "Cage The Elephant" and 2011’s "Thank You, Happy Birthday," the musicians took some time off the road, to write as individuals before getting back together in August of 2012 to begin work on "Melophobia" as a collective.

The album, a varied collection of unabashedly vivid and notably thoughtful rock songs, was written and recorded over the course of a year, with various recording sessions taking place at St. Charles Studio in Nashville over the winter and spring with longtime producer Jay Joyce. The approach was highly experimental and based around the idea that that you don’t write a song, you find it. Along with Joyce, the band focused on bringing each track to its greatest potential, which sometimes posed a significant challenge. Throughout the process the musicians stopped listening to other musical recordings almost entirely and Matt Shultz drew songwriting inspiration from listening to those around him interact.

The album’s flagship single “Come A Little Closer” is a boisterous, blues-laden rocker and was one of the first songs the band completed for the album. The song marries the raw energy and playfulness the band is known for with their present interest in creating intimately expressive music, both in its pensively poetic lyrics and surging melody. That sensibility carries over to “It’s Just Forever,” the final track the band laid down, which features guest vocals from The Kills’ Alison Mosshart. Mosshart’s yelping croon builds the intensity of the stomping number, an apt juxtaposition to the mid-tempo soulfulness of album standout “Hypocrite” and acoustic closer “Cigarette Daydreams.” Overall the album captures familiar sounds in a new way, balancing a nostalgic sonic aesthetic with a fresh, innovative sensibility and embodying a truly classic voice. "Melophobia" resonates with a sense of joyful abandon, which comes from facing those initial challenges head on.

"Melophobia" follows "Thank You, Happy Birthday," which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Top 200 and has sold over 250,000 copies to date. The album’s single, “Shake Me Down,” spent six weeks at No. 1 on Alternative radio, following Cage The Elephant’s 2009 breakout single “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked,” which landed in the Top 5. Cage The Elephant has sold over 550,000 copies to date and spent 73 consecutive weeks on the Billboard Top 200. The band has toured extensively, selling out several headlining runs and performing alongside Black Keys, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Muse, Stone Temple Pilots and Silversun Pickups.

For Cage The Elephant, who originally hail from Bowling Green, KY, the aim is to always improve and evolve, ensuring that each subsequent release and tour represent a step forward. In that way "Melophobia" is not so much about a fear of music but a fear of not pushing music to its potential.

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