By Rebekah Deponte | Staff Writer |
The Lumineers released their second album “Cleopatra” on April 8. Singles from this album include “Ophelia,” “Cleopatra,” and “Angela” respectively.
The folk-rock band is most popularly known for their 2012 hit “Ho Hey,” which peaked at number three on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the U.S. in April 2013.
“Ho Hey” took the number one slot during that same period on the U.S. Alternative and U.S. Rock charts.
“Cleopatra” differs from the group’s first self-titled long play album in that it relies on a more electronic sound than they had used in the past, but the change has little affect on the band’s original sound.
The album kept the trio’s basic piano, guitar, cello, drum structure, but the sound of “Cleopatra” is largely influenced by front-man Wesley Schultz’s re-acquaintance with the electric guitar during their three years of touring, according to The Lumineers’ website.
“My favorite thing [about the album] is probably the tone [The Lumineers] create from all of their songs as well as their instruments and how they create emotion from just [their sound],” stated student Emilee Plau.
Schultz mentioned in several interviews throughout the album’s public relations tour that the songs are based on the life stories of people they have met as well as songs the band had written, but felt did not properly fit the tone they were going for in their first album.
The song inspiring the album title, “Cleopatra,” is based on the life of the first female taxi driver in the Republic of Georgia, a small country near Russia.
The album cover is actually a still of actress Theda Bara from the 1917 movie, “Cleopatra,” which burned in the infamous Fox Studio Fire of 1937; only 30 seconds of the original film remains.
For those unfamiliar with The Lumineers, they have been compared to bands such as Mumford and Sons, Of Monsters and Men, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros and Band of Horses.
“Hunger Games” director Francis Lawrence approached The Lumineers, asking them to write a song for the movie franchise. The group not only has a song on the movie’s soundtrack, but also takes claim for the sound behind the song “The Hanging Tree.”
“It was interesting to be ghost writers, but it’s a song for Katniss Everdeen, not The Lumineers, ” stated Schultz on the band’s website. “It’s not something we would play live, unless Suzanne Collins wants to come sing it.”
The Lumineers’ music has also been featured on hit television shows like “Reign,” “The Vampire Diaries,” “About a Boy” and “Nashville.”
The Cleopatra World Tour has already begun, starting with dates in Europe and working its way to the states in late May.
The earliest California tour dates, San Diego and Santa Barbara, are already sold out, but the band loops back to Southern California on Oct. 5 to play the famous Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles for the first time.
“Cleopatra,” as well as The Lumineers’ first self-titled album, can be purchased on iTunes, Amazon, and just about anywhere else that sells music.
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