Lumineers – Cleopatra: Deluxe (Slate Vinyl 2LP)

In April 2016, two-time Grammy-nominated band The Lumineers released the follow-up to their platinum-selling debut. Cleopatra debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200, the first independent album of the year to do so. The Cleopatra (Deluxe Edition) comes pressed on slate colored 180g double-vinyl with die cut packaging and includes 4 bonus tracks. Previously only available at the band’s merch table and online store, this is the first time the Cleopatra (Deluxe Edition) will be available commercially.

It took four years for The Lumineers to follow up their platinum-plus, multi-Grammy-nominated, self-titled debut – which spent 46 weeks on the Billboard 200 and peaked at No. 2 – but Cleopatra is well worth the wait. Cleopatra proves that Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites – along with cellist/vocalist Neyla Pekarek – are neither taking their good fortune for granted, nor sitting back on their laurels. With the help of producer Simone Felice (The Felice Brothers, The Avett Brothers), the man Wesley calls “our shaman,” the band ensconced themselves in Clubhouse, a recording studio high atop a hill in rural Rhinebeck, N.Y., not far from Woodstock.

The Lumineers then set about trying to make musical sense of their three-year-plus roller coaster ride. Their skill at setting a visual story to music comes through amidst the delicate, deceptively simple acoustic soundscapes. This time, though, bassist Byron Isaac provides a firm, low-end on the apocalyptic opener “Sleep on the Floor,” a ghostly tune about getting out of town before the “subways flood [and] the bridges break.” It’s a densely packed, cinematic song that echoes Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City” and John Steinbeck’s East of Eden – which were models for the record alongside Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

There is something timeless about The Lumineers that links their songs to 18th century pastorals, 19th century work songs, 20th century folk narratives and 21st century post-modern cinematic soundscapes. It sounds familiar, but take the time to dig below the surface. Success hasn’t spoiled The Lumineers; rather, it’s inspired them to follow their muses even further.

LP1

1. Sleep On The Floor
2. Ophelia
3. Cleopatra
4. Gun Song
5. Angela
6. In The Light
7. Gale Song
8. Long Way From Home
9. Sick In The Head
10. My Eyes
11. Patience

LP2

1. Where The Skies Are Blue
2. Everyone Requires A Plan
3. White Lie
4. Cleopatra (Acoustic Demo)