Cage the Elephant will return with their new album Social Cues in April. Frontman Matt Schultz has been very transparent about his divorce being his inspiration for many songs saying, “I saw a depth of potential evil that I had never experienced firsthand.”

While writing the album, he and his bandmates were watching the Netflix’s series I Am A Killer, a docu-series folliowing convicted murderers while on death row. According to Cage guitarist and Matt’s brother Brad Shultz, the series inspired the song “House of Glass”. He broke down the song’s other inspirations to Consequence of Sound, read about them below.

Nick Cave:

nick cave israel brian eno cultural boycott

Nick Cave, photo by Ben Kaye

Nick Cave, and in particular his band the Birthday Party. They have the dark, gothic, visceral vibe that this song embodies.

I Am a Killer:

This is a Netflix show which interviews people on death row that Matt and I were watching while recording the album. During that time period, Matt created the character of a shy-eyed, soft-spoken murder, a person who truly lives polar lives. The character undeniably has a duality of heart, and is kind by all respects publicly, but inwardly is a monster and yet still very relatable. In many regards he seems lovable, though this is not deserved.

John Carpenter:

photo by Philip Cosores

John Carpenter, photo by Philip Cosores

During the making of the record as a whole we were pretty obsessed with horror movies. We wanted the song to have a horror film feel and John Carpenter has always been a favorite of ours. Fun fact, he is from Bowling Green, KY, our home town, and actually dated our bass player’s mother when they were teenagers.

Ronnie Kray:

Ronnie Kray Cage the Elephant House of Glass origins

Kray was a gangster in London in the ’50s and ’60s and really embodied the character of the soft-spoken murderer. He had a quote about living a double life near his death, which summed it up pretty well: “I seem to have walked a double path most of my life. Perhaps an extra step in one of those directions might have seen me celebrated rather than notorious.”