Cage the Elephant
Melophobia

Mixing chaos and harmony is the first thing that comes to mind when I listen to one of the works of these guys from Kentucky.

Cage The Elephant is an indie group in the full sense of the term. Approaching their sounds is not always easy and intuitive,
but it often proves to be a pleasant discovery;
after their success achieved with their self-titled album in 2008, giving them some musical visibility, although certainly less
(only in terms of visibility, I mean) than their more fortunate peers (see "Arctic Monkeys");
I got closer to this group through their single used for the "Borderlands" video game trailer, a little gem called "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked". After listening to and appreciating their first album, full of punk and grunge sounds but still fresh and alternative,
I was also very fascinated by their subsequent works, namely "Thank You, Happy Birthday", even though it requires more listens than the previous one to be absorbed without being caught off guard, and this splendid "Melophobia".

"Melophobia" literally means "fear of music". Honestly, I didn't grasp the association of ideas until it was explained by the leader of the group,
Matthew Shultz, who wanted to encapsulate, in a single word,
the fear of creating prepackaged music to forcibly be artistic or poetic and losing that musical communicative honesty.
The cover image presents us with a surreal artistic work that would fit well in a modern art museum,
and along with the first song "Spiderhead", it catapults us into this colorful and surprising musical circus,
and if the first track needs to be rediscovered several times to be appreciated, the following "Come a Little Closer" is easier to listen to, an excellent choice as a single.
In "Telescope" with slightly more languid sounds, the period of depression experienced by the singer emerges in a fascinating way,
but this circus certainly cannot stop here; on the contrary, it resumes with one of my favorite songs "It's Just Forever"
(to which is added the splendid voice of Alison Mosshart from the Kills)
followed closely by "Take It Or Leave it", the second single, and "Halo" to complete a trio of excellent songs.
Noteworthy, too, is the closing of a great album with the single "Cigarette Daydreams" that provides a worthy finale to this work.

Surely a CD that deserves to be listened to again and again, because it's not very easy, probably unusual,
hard to compare with works of other groups, perhaps it has some sound that recalls Beck, but overall,
I find it a fresh and innovative work by a young group that is maturing, albeit quietly, and that deserves more attention.