10 Best Rock Music Album Closers Of The 2010s
9. Cigarette Daydreams - Cage The Elephant (Melophobia)
Though their debut release came out in 2008, the fantastically named Cage the Elephant really came into their own in the 2010s.
Somewhere between alternative and indie, the band released four albums across the decade and haven't actually released anything else since 2019's Social Cues.
Their third album, Melophobia, cracked the US top 20 and sold enough to go platinum. Its lead single, Come a Little Closer, also sold pretty well, but not as well as the song that rounded the album out.
Cigarette Daydreams, one of the indiest song titles of all time, is a soft guitar and piano piece written by singer Matt Schultz, who said he wanted to write a song that was transparent and emotionally honest.
The end result is a wistful number about losing one's place in the world, which also features some very tastefully arranged strings. Schultz's voice isn't perfect, but its jarring nature actually lifts this song above just another schmaltzy ballad.
The theme of Cigarette Daydreams is about looking forward, not backwards, making it the perfect fit to close out this album and allow listeners to look ahead to the next Cage the Elephant release.