text: Cage the Elephant are currently preparing for their upcoming new album Social Cues, out April 19. Frontman Matt Shultz recently hopped on the phone with Loudwire Nights host Toni Gonzalez to reflect on the inspiration behind some of the new album's songs, music videos and their upcoming tour with Beck. See highlights from the interview, and listen to the full conversation above.
  The first single from Social Cues, "Ready to Let Go," is currently No. 1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. Shultz recalls a time when he was visiting ruins and statues and compared himself to the statues, as if he were frozen in time. "I just remember at that point in life, things were pretty turbulent. My cousin had passed away, who was a best friend growing up, an actual best friend had passed away, two really close friends had committed suicide and then my relationship was on the rocks," he says.
  The video for "Ready to Let Go" has several horror themes present throughout it, and Shultz explains he likes to incorporate symbolism into their music videos when they make them. "I think the truth is just scary as hell," he laughs. "Things you think about — betrayal, murder, redemption, forgiveness, love, hate — evoke all these actions and words. So at first I was really leaning into symbolism and I think we bring to light some pretty heavy truths, pretty scary. I'm glad it came across that way."
  Cage the Elephant recently announced a co-headlining tour with Beck and support from Spoon. "I feel like we just wanted to have something compelling to ourselves on the tour, things that we would wanna see...We just wanted to tour with acts that we were really into," Shultz says.