Cage the Elephant are back and the times they are a changing. The group has moved on from longtime producer Jay Joyce and they're giving the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach a shot at producing their music. Auerbach's influence can be felt in the new single "Mess Around" from the band's upcoming album, Tell Me I'm Pretty, due Dec. 18.

Frontman Matt Shultz told Consequence of Sound, "Brad [Shultz] was listening to a lot of Jay Reatard at the time and was inspired by the riffs that Jay was so incredible at writing. We had already recorded a majority of the record and took small breaks from the studio with Dan [Auerbach] and went and demoed some new tracks. 'Mess Around' almost didn’t make the record — Brad was unconvinced that it fit. And I overheard him playing the riff and got really excited, and then convinced Brad to pursue it as a song."

He adds, "A couple years ago I saw OutKast doing their festival circuit. Andre 3000’s delivery and his sense of melody was inspiring to me. I was wondering if there was a way to create an alternative song with a similar kind of energy, marrying that with a Byrds or a Creedence Clearwater Revival stylistic color. We recorded it in one day and brought it into the studio. Dan got very excited about it — he actually did the solo that’s on that track. It just happened really fast."

The band also just released a video for the track that features the films of French filmmaker Georges Melies as the backdrop. For those unaware, Melies is considered one of the pioneers of motion pictures, creating such influential sci-fi films as 1904's A Trip to the Moon and 1906's The Impossible Voyage. Check out the clip above.

And look for Cage the Elephant's Tell Me I'm Pretty album, featuring "Mess Around," when it arrives on Dec. 18. It's currently available for pre-order via Amazon and iTunes. Cage the Elephant will be playing a radio station-sponsored Halloween Ball in Los Angeles tonight, and they've also booked a Christmas radio festival show in Seattle on Dec. 8. Keep abreast of all their tour dates here.

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