The Lumineers’ self-titled debut was simple and sweet – the musical equivalent of comfort food. Their folky songs encouraged ardent sing-alongs and frontman Wesley Schultz conveyed foreign stories with feelings that were all too familiar. Cleopatra is their return, accompanied by production from Simone Felice, formerly of the Felice Brothers.
Four years on, the band’s sound is instantly recognisable. Opening song Sleep On The Floor features a spacious arrangement; a steady beat is matched by the call of an electric guitar before the track splits open and soars upwards. The songwritingis still simple, but there are fresh dynamic nuances and a new toying with melodic ideas. The thudding bass drum and cathartic rises – such as on Gun Song – become cyclical. However, sparser tracks on the second half of the record – see the gentle In The Light and the devastating Sick In The Head – break from this pattern.
Schultz’s rusty cry douses the record in bittersweet sincerity, less twee and a little heavier than on its predecessor. For those who enjoy their emotions rendered with a little more subtlety, Schultz’s performances may be a bit too cloying to be palatable. Yet it was this very earnestness that originally drew the hearts of the masses to The Lumineers, and this warmth will continue to attract many others.
The Lumineers don’t make any sweeping statements or momentous experiments on Cleopatra. However, it preserves the unassuming approach that made them treasured in the first place.
BY ANGELA CHRISTIAN-WILKES
