Most people know of the alternative folk band The Lumineers from their single “Ho Hey” of their self-titled debut album, but there’s a lot more to them than that. At the tail end of 2012, they found themselves on the 2013 Grammy nomination list for Best New Artist and Best Americana Album. “Ho Hey” stayed on the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart for eight back-to-back weeks in the same year. The band also went on a sold out tour in the U.S., U.K. and Australia; some of the shows even had to be moved to larger venues, as the band garnered a larger crowd than anticipated.
After announcing via Instagram in 2014 that they were working on their second album, fans were ecstatic to hear what they were working on and anxious for a release date. This album, “Cleopatra,” wasn’t available until April 8, 2016, but thanks to the film adaptation of “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1,“ fans got a little bit of Lumineers content to hold them over. Founding members Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites collaborated with James Newton Howard to compose “The Hanging Tree,“ a song featured in the film with vocals from Katniss Everdeen herself, Jennifer Lawrence.
The first single from “Cleopatra,“ “Ophelia” was released Feb. 5, 2016 and quickly began to show signs of having success similar to that of “Ho Hey.” It stayed at No. 1 on the Triple A chart for 13 weeks, making it the second-longest time a song had been at the top of the radio chart behind “Clocks” by Coldplay. “Ophelia” also became the 2016 Billboard #1 Rock Radio song and #1 Alternative song. The group went on to sell over 750,000 tickets in the United States alone for The Cleopatra World Tour from 2016-2017. Additionally, they opened for U2, had two performances with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and later played with Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks.
For the “Game of Thrones” finale last spring, the group was featured on the final season’s album “For The Throne” with the song “Nightshade” alongside “Devil in Your Eye” by Mumford & Sons and “Kingdom of One” by Maren Morris. Just over a year ago on September 13, 2019, The Lumineers released “III” after teasing it on social media and releasing the single “Gloria” in April. Their fans have consistently shown their love for it- some going so far as to get the Roman numerals on the album’s cover tattooed- and are patiently hoping for an end to the coronavirus so they can safely see The Lumineers live on their rescheduled III: The World Tour in 2021.
After Thanksgiving leftovers and Black Friday shopping, my family sat down to dive into this album. Here are their thoughts:
Mom: I have always liked the Lumineers. This album seemed a little sad to me, but maybe it’s just a 2020 thing. I liked the piano. Overall 8 out of 10. A good listen for a melancholy day.
Dad: Yeah, not a fan of this band in general. Some good lyrics, but the vocals kill it for me. I would not listen to this voluntarily. 6 out of 10 only because the Christmas tree was lit.
Brother: It’s not that I don’t like it, but don’t like it like it. If it was playing in the background I would listen to it, but that’s it. Other people probably like it, but it's not my style. 5 out of 10.
Thank you very much to anyone who has read this series of columns this fall. Happy Holidays, and here’s to 2021.
Tate Raub is a freshman studying strategic communication at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk to Tate? Tweet her @tatertot1310.
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