Cabinet Man

After working on Spirit Phone for four years, Cicierega released 11 previews of songs intended for the album in 2012. An instrumental "Cabinet Man" demo appears as the third song of this with different instrumentation and production from its final version.{{cite web |last=Cicierega|first=Neil|url=https://neilblr.com/post/20398163543|title=It's over 5 minutes of cool excerpts from 11 various songs I have been working on|website=Tumblr|date=April 3, 2012|access-date=January 6, 2024}} Later that year, Lemon Demon would go on to perform an early version of the song at the anime convention Youmacon.{{cite web |last=Block|first=Dustin|url=https://www.mlive.com/entertainment/detroit/2012/10/youmacon_2012_detroits_anime_m.html|title=Youmacon 2012, Detroit's anime, manga, gaming, J-pop convention, is Nov. 1-4|website=MLive|date=October 5, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2024}} "Cabinet Man" was released on Spirit Phone on February 29, 2016, along with a pre-2012 demo of the song as a bonus track.{{cite web |last=Dimaya|first=Aaron|url=https://njitvector.com/17185/editors-picks/a-spectacular-halloween-album-if-you-still-want-to-stay-spooky/|title=A Spectacular Halloween Album If You Still Want to Stay Spooky|website=The Vector|language=en|date=November 5, 2023|accessdate=January 31, 2024}} The song's lyrics were inspired by Polybius,{{cite web |last=Raspberry|first=Paleif|url=https://thedmonline.com/a-spooky-tunes-playlist-fit-for-halloween-festivities/|title=A spooky tunes playlist fit for Halloween festivities|website=The Daily Mississippian|date=October 28, 2023|accessdate=January 6, 2024}} describing a man who fuses with an arcade machine and experiences adoration and abandonment before being destroyed. Cicierega described "Cabinet Man" in the album's 2018 commentary as "the kind of ludicrous story that would show up in an old horror anthology, like Creepshow".{{cite AV media notes |title=Spirit Phone|others=Lemon Demon|year=2018|publisher=Needlejuice Records}} The song has since amassed over 65 million streams.

The Daily Mississippian included the song on its 2023 Halloween playlist, with the 57th volume of The FuMP additionally including "Cabinet Man".{{cite web |url=https://www.thefump.com/store/release/168|title=The FuMP Volume 57: May - June 2016|website=The FuMP|language=en|date=July 18, 2016|accessdate=April 1, 2024}} It inspired the indie game Neon Nemesis, featured at the 2019 Alt.Ctrl.GDC Exhibition. The game is played by up to four racers, against a fifth player, the "nemesis" who controls their character from inside the arcade cabinet itself.{{cite web |last=Couture|first=Joel|url=https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/334731/AltCtrlGDC_Showcase_Neon_Nemesis.php|title=Alt.Ctrl.GDC Showcase: Neon Nemesis|website=Gamasutra|date=January 23, 2019|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190127051106/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/334731/AltCtrlGDC_Showcase_Neon_Nemesis.php|archive-date=January 27, 2019|access-date=August 18, 2023}} "Cabinet Man" is featured multiple times in the TV series Nancy Drew, additionally playing during episode "The Warning of the Frozen Heart".{{Citation |last=Sirotzki|first=Dominik|url=https://www.soundtrackradar.com/nancy-drew-season-3-soundtrack-all-songs-with-scene-descriptions/|title=Nancy Drew Season 3 Soundtrack: All songs with scene descriptions|website=Soundtrack Radar|date=October 8, 2021|access-date=August 18, 2023}} During a proposal scene featuring the characters George and Nick, Ace holds a vinyl copy of Spirit Phone, proclaiming he found it at a thrift store.{{cite web |last=Thompson|first=Jules|url=https://www.nerdsandbeyond.com/2021/10/08/nancy-drew-recap-season-3-episode-1-the-warning-of-the-frozen-heart/|title='Nancy Drew' Recap: Season 3, Episode 1 "The Warning of the Frozen Heart"|website=Nerds and Beyond|date=October 8, 2021|accessdate=January 6, 2024}} "Cabinet Man" appears as a recurring topic throughout the show, with a majority of characters enjoying the song.{{cite web |last=Thompson|first=Jules|url=https://www.nerdsandbeyond.com/2021/05/13/recap-tom-swift-comes-to-horseshoe-bay-in-nancy-drew-season-1-episode-15-the-celestial-visitor/|title=Recap: Tom Swift Comes to Horseshoe Bay in 'Nancy Drew' Season 2, Episode 15 "The Celestial Visitor"|website=Nerds and Beyond|language=en|date=May 13, 2021|accessdate=April 1, 2024}}

• Neil Cicierega – vocals, instruments, programming, engineering, production
• Mark Kramer – remastering {{small|(Needlejuice pressings 2018-2021)}}
• Angel Marcloid – remastering {{small|(Needlejuice pressings 2022–)}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.lemondemon.com/ Lemon Demon official website]
• [https://lemondemon.bandcamp.com/album/spirit-phone Spirit Phone] on the Lemon Demon Bandcamp
• [https://needlejuice.bandcamp.com/album/spirit-phone Spirit Phone] on the Needlejuice Records Bandcamp

{{Neil Cicierega}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabinet Man}}

Category:Lemon Demon songs

Category:2016 songs