Cage the Elephant’s recent single, “Ready to Let Go,” heralds an exhilarating sequel for the Grammy-winning band.

The new song is the sixth track on Social Cues, their upcoming album, and it gives us an exciting glimpse of what the record will sound like — a premonition for something more raw and untamed.

The band’s past two studio albums, Melophobia and Tell Me I’m Pretty, have exemplified both Matt and Brad Shultz’s talent in writing award-worthy art. This new single shows much promise in carrying along the torch.

Though it holds on to the same gritty, upbeat sound of its predecessors, the song also manages to veer away from past trends. The music video, which was released in tandem with the single, acts as another enlightening precursor for the new album — one that contains a variety of carnal visuals, buckets of fake blood, and lead vocalist Matt Shultz in a skin-tight red leather onesie. The resulting product is a perfectly disturbing vision that immerses itself in vicious eroticism and bodily angst, a state of mind that toes the line between mere anxiety and pure insanity. The song is about a break-up, and for Shultz, it seems “letting go” isn’t solely about releasing the physical bonds of the relationship, but a couple of ties to reality as well.

Unsettling as it is, the music video proves that Cage the Elephant is curating a new image around their impending album. They’re carving out fresh creative territory, one that further embraces the abrasive edges of their art, and they don’t seem to care if audience members are a little creeped out.

Check out the video down below. If you’re going through a break up, desperately need to let go, or have strong desire to see Matt Shultz in a leather onesie, I recommend a thorough watch.

Ethan Hundertmark is a Cal Poly English sophomore and a KCPR staff member. Image credit to Cage the Elephant.