A Perfect Circle - Eat The Elephant (2018)

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A Perfect Circle - Eat The Elephant (2018)

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Eat the Elephant is the upcoming fourth studio album by American rock band A Perfect Circle. It will be their first album release in fourteen years, after 2004's Emotive. While early work on new material traces back to as early as 2008, years of slow progress would ensue due to issues between the band's chief music writers, frontman Maynard James Keenan and guitarist Billy Howerdel, largely stemming from their commitments to other projects and inability to come to an agreement on the direction to take the band. Renewed focus, alongside assistance from music producer Dave Sardy, helped propel the band into much more productive sessions across 2017, with the album being completed in early 2018. The album is scheduled for release on April 20, 2018. Four singles were released in advance of the album - "The Doomed" in October 2017, "Disillusioned" in January 2018, "TalkTalk" in February 2018, and "So Long, And Thanks for All the Fish in April 2018.

The album touches on themes related to modern societal, religious, and political issues. All lyrics were written by Keenan. During the writing and recording of the album in 2017, Howerdel stated that the lyrics would likely have some broad concepts and themes driving a narrative on the album, but that at that point, much of it was still in progress and in a state of flux. While he indicated that the album would likely not be as overtly politically themed as their prior release, Emotive, he also conceded that "it’s probably impossible to escape the torment that we all are going through in this year…this turmoil is probably really great for the arts." Keenan alluded to the ideas being part of the album as well, stating that "14 years have passed since we released Emotive. A new release is long overdue. In light of this current difficult and polarized social, spiritual and political climate, we artist types need to open our big mouths and share the light a little louder." A press release was issued stating that "With a title like Eat the Elephant, A Perfect Circle’s new record has clear political overtones that Keenan admits could stir up controversy", though Keenan clarified that this was not written by him or the band, and refused to explain the meaning of the album, only conceding that it referred to multiple things, and that the album split a balance: "You don't want to be too topical, because then you date your art. But there's definitely a lot of iconic things that go on nowadays that are worth mentioning that I feel like we just take as rote, we just accept it like it's standard." Keenan, on multiple occasions, noted accountability as a key concept on the album:

It's about reconnecting and taking responsibility for yourself. There's accountability with that and in yourself. What are you doing to help your family? What are you doing to look at yourself and figure out what part of the problem you are? I don't think any of this stuff is going to be fixed. Pointing a finger at Trump isn't going to get anything done. And yeah, he's a buffoon. He's not the only buffoon. Cutting the head off the snake's not going to do shit. It's not really a snake, is it? Its a Medusa…There's a hands-on approach to those things, and I think that's something we've lost touch with. All the bitching and posting on Facebook to think you're going to change something, it's not going to do anything. We need to reconnect."

"The Doomed" was interpretted to have lyrical content criticizing wealth inequality, social inequality and the conservative idea that that society isn't obligated to take care of the less fortunate. "Disillusioned" was interpreted to be a statement against society's need for instant gratification, and overdependence on cell phone and mobile device usage. "Talk Talk" was described as a " scathing rebuke of American Christianity's stance on gun control" by Stereogum and "a take on pious hypocrites…who preach and pray but aren't walking their talk by taking action" by Revolver. Keenan confirmed the interpretation, stating it was commentary on people's tendency to offer "thoughts and prayers" rather than putting fort effort into solving issues like gun violence. Consequence of Sound described the album as "angry and mellow", successfully capturing the emotion of "angry and tired of being angry at the same time".

Another subject the albums touches on is grappling with the death of others. Howerdel explained that the title track, "Eat the Elephant", was written in response to the suicide of two people close to him, and early versions of the song were co-written with Chester Bennington, who committed suicide in July 2017. Howerdel also noted being affected by the November 2017 passing of AC/DC's Malcolm Young. The track "So Long, And Thanks for All the Fish" also makes allusions to the 2016 deaths of Muhammad Ali, Carrie Fisher and David Bowie. The track "Disillusioned" originally had the working title of "Dreams", and was inspired by the death of Robin Williams, and his role in the 1998 film What Dreams May Come, with Howerdel being inspired by its concept of "going through hell for your love".

Contrary to the band's prior album, Emotive, where Howerdel had taken up performing lead vocals on approximately a third of the album, Keenan performed all vocal parts on the album; Howerdel offered to support, but Keenan was "on a roll" when they entered the studio, and he handled all vocal duties. Howerdel stated that most of the album is performed by himself and Keenan; bassist Matt McJunkins only performed on a few songs, as did drummer Jeff Friedl, with multiple drummers performing on the album. Iha also performed to some capacity on the album. Contrary to prior albums, where most music was written by Howerdel on a guitar, for Eat the Elephant, most songs were originally composed on keyboards, with Howerdel later either transposing the music to guitar playing, or keeping the keyboard material, and instead adding additional guitar effects for "complimentary melodies and atmospheric flourishes".

Rolling Stone described the album's sound as "a moody, sensitive portrait of a band that decided to grow up and make a record that reflects where they are now as artists rather than trying to recapture the past." Howerdel described it as a very "dark" with very honest lyrics that have "teeth" to them. He stated some of the album's sound was inspired by the work of Depeche Mode, and the track "Hourglass" was described as being more electronic-driven than their prior music, with drum and synthesizer parts more up front than the guitar, and featuring robotic-sounding backing vocals to Keenan. Some publications noted that the album was more mellow and piano-driven than prior albums as well. However, other publications noted songs sounding familiar to their prior work as well; the track "Feathers" was described by Loudwire as having the trademark interplay of Keenan's soaring vocals and Howerdel's guitar-work as their material released in their prior albums, while MetalSucks described the track TalkTalk" as a hybrid of Mer de Noms heavier sound with Thirteenth Step's more mellow sound.

The album was generally well-received by critics. Consequence of Sound praised Keenan's vocal performances as being some of the best across any of his various band's albums, and concluded that the album was "the kind of reunion record that most bands would kill for…it rewards multiple listens enough to overcome the vast majority of its shortcomings." Metal Injection similarly agreed it to be one of Keenan's best vocal performances, praising the album for being " a remarkably atmospheric, graceful, charming, and poetically introspective (and socially conscious) sequence…Considering how long it’s been gestating, it’s downright remarkable that Eat the Elephant' is so richly surprising, dependable, and multifaceted (in every way possible). Certainly, A Perfect Circle’s more expected elements still satisfy from start to finish. Still, it’s the emphasis on classical stimuli, atmospheric coatings, and heartrending intellectualism that truly makes the record exceptional. MetalSucks generally praised the album, but was more critical to its more mellow sound, concluding that it was a "… good one, and if it’s anything like APC’s other records, it will get better with age…it’s definitely worth your time, just don’t expect [a return to] Mer De Noms.