Cage the Elephant, “Neon Pill.”

Cage the Elephant had an eventful five-year break between Social Cues and the rock band’s new album, and not in a good way. First, brothers Matt (vocals) and Brad (guitar) Shultz lost their father. Then Matt was arrested in a New York hotel room on suspicion of firearm possession. The band also had two friends pass away in quick succession. With all this, Cage could be forgiven for not regrouping and releasing an album sooner sooner. Neon Pill, however, is not the sound of a band barreling back. It’s familiar, but it lacks the joie de vivre of its previous work.

Matt Shultz said on social media that he’d “slipped into psychosis due to an iatrogenic response to a medication [he] was prescribed.” This led to his arrest, followed by two months of rehab as well as reconciliation with his estranged wife. It’s impossible not to think of this situation when hearing the lyrics of the title track.

“Double-crossed by a neon pill/ Like a loaded gun, my love,” he sings.

It’s also impossible to ignore that parts of it sound musically similar to “The War Is Over,” from Social Cues. It also owes something to “Black Madonna,” from that album. It’s one of the strongest songs on Neon Pill, but it sounds like it could have been a Social Cues B-side. That similar sound may be due in part to the albums both being produced by John Hill (Blu De Tiger, Oliver Tree).

Opening track “Hifi (True Light)” is also classic Cage the Elephant, rocking with urgent yet melodic guitars and Shultz intoning ominously, “Every day now, turns into a night/ Catching circles under my eyes.”

On the psychedelic “Float Into the Sky,” the band starts out with gentle piano playing, and Shultz singing about how he escapes away into his mind, but toward the end of the song, his voice turns robotic and the music gets vaguely dystopian, indicating that his mind may not be a good place to escape to anymore.

At times, Neon Pill is the sound of a life crumbling. Matt Shultz has always been upfront about his mental issues in his lyrics, and this new album is no exception.

“Man I really messed up now/ Too afraid to say it out loud/ I can barely breathe, who’m I trying to be? I’m still trying to figure it out,” Shultz sings over somber piano playing on “Out Loud.” This is one of the most poignant tracks on the album, and even as the clarity of sobriety can be a rock cliché, it can also be incredibly meaningful. Many fans who’ve been with Cage since the beginning will feel for Shultz and all he’s been through after hearing this song.

The rest of the album wavers between dejected and hopeful, but without the hint of mischief that we’ve grown to love and expect from frontman Shultz. “Metaverse,” ostensibly from the point of view of someone lost in cyberspace, could just as easily be about Matt Shultz or any of his Cage the Elephant band members while on tour.

“Every day spent far from my family/ Double check, checked out, I’m half asleep,” he sings. The song’s drumbeat and guitar parts bear some similarities to The Strokes’ “Hard to Explain.”

On “Good Time,” the guitars and synths wail like sirens, warning that the time might not so good after all. Matt Shultz sings about partying hard, and knowing his journey so far, listeners can hear the irony implicit in the chorus: “Everybody had a good time/ Better yet, I’m getting mine/ Everybody had a good laugh/ Laughed until we cried.”

On “Ball and Chain,” Shultz talk-sings in a way he’s certainly done before, but he sounds more like Cake’s John McCrea than ever, with his lyrics delivered deadpan over funky bass and frenetic guitar playing. “I was lost in fabrication, the finish line was fixed,” he sings.

Even when things are dire, though, there’s hope. “Rainbow” finds Shultz saluting his partner (and giving a cheeky nod to ’80s hit “You Spin Me Round” by Dead or Alive). “You lift me up when I get down/ Right round, got me flowing like a rainbow/ I need your touch, your touch right now,” he sings.

The membership of the band, while built around the Shultz brothers, has fluctuated some over the years. Original members Daniel Tichenor (bass), and Jared Champion (drums) remain, but Lincoln Parish (guitar, keyboards) departed in 2013. The additions of excellent musicians Nick Bockrath on guitar and Matthan Minster on keyboards in 2017 were a win for the band. In a time when overproduced pop reigns supreme, Cage still relies heavily on good old-fashioned rock and roll, and having Bockrath and Minster aboard helps keep that flame alive.

The musicianship is solid, and the choruses are as sticky as ever, but Neon Pill is a tougher sell than previous albums. While Cage has always had a shade or two of melancholy, Neon Pill is darker and heavier in tone, with less reprieve. None of these songs have the airy charm of “Cigarette Daydreams” or “No Rest for the Wicked.” Cage the Elephant is one of the best rock bands active today, but Neon Pill sounds like the band merely making an effort to get something on record so they can go back on the road, rather than because they have an album’s worth something to say. The band is a thrilling live act, but that energy continues to be tricky for the band to capture in the studio.

Follow Rachel Alm at Twitter.com/thouzenfold, Instagram.com/thousandfold, and on Bluesky at @thousandfold.bsky.social.