Cozy up with your craft beer and get ready for some banjo riffs because The Lumineers just released a new album.
Wondering who The Lumineers are? You are not alone. The group has not come out with a new album in four years. The hit from their 2012 album “Ho Hey” still gets played on variety radio stations on occasion, but the band disappeared from the public eye until their latest album "Cleopatra" debuted on April 8th.
The Lumineers had high expectations to meet on their second studio album. Their last self-titled album earned them two Grammy nominations: Best New Artist and Best Americana Album. Unfortunately, the group was beat out by Fun. for Best New Artist, whose sound is seemingly reflected in the "Cleopatra" album's efforts to mimic the booming 70s style drums featured in many of Fun.’s songs.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, frontman Wesley Schultz comments that "Cleopatra" is "a heavier album” than their first. He defends the album’s prolonged release by saying that “every little sound that you hear on this record is intentional.”
"Cleopatra" begins with the mellow “Sleep on the Floor” featuring The Lumineers’ standard gravelly vocals and and marching-band drums that build in tempo throughout the song. By far the catchiest song on the album is “Ophelia.” If you took an English course in high school, you likely associate the name “Ophelia” with the tragic and beautiful character who drowns herself in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” (spoiler alert). Aside from the fact the song is unrelated to the title, it has an upbeat tempo and is the only standout on the album.
"Cleopatra" is slower than "The Lumineers." “In The Light” has a slow dynamic sound heavy on piano, muted drums, and raw acoustic guitar. The song does not have a peak and leaves a melancholy feeling with the listener at the end. “Gale Song” has a similar initial arrangement, but develops into a jangly and soaring chorus.
The only problem with "Cleopatra" is it’s similarity to "The Lumineers." It has the same mix of slow folk songs and foot-stomping bangers. The sound is so similar one could take a song from "The Lumineers" and put it on "Cleopatra" without noticing a difference. It is one thing for an artist to have a unique and consistent sound, but The Lumineers face competition from groups such as Mumford and Sons and The Avett brothers who also have a folk-pop sound with more variety.
With a four year gap between albums, fans expected an enormously unique and spectacular project. Instead, they heard a sound similar to that of The Lumineers’ first album with slightly more complex lyrics. The piano riffs, foot-stomping beats, and folksy vocals are all there. What "Cleopatra" is lacking as a second album is something to distinguish The Lumineers from every other folk-pop band appearing in the music scene these days.
