The Lumineers: Illuminating a Hopeless Present

If you are a fan of the Lumineers, chances are you are going to appreciate the authenticity of Brightside. What the Lumineers have never lost is their connection to a simple sound and a simple melody. And, both shine in Brightside.

The album haunts like a hopeless serenade and as if something has been lost since their last release: III. But, like Dylan and the Beatles before them, they build upon their sound with more of an electric direction. This makes their latest album work. I like seeing that a band that prides itself on being stripped raw can give what they do to a pop-esque world. They expand their roots and grow. 

Moreover, the band harkens back to their storytelling roots. I can easily see an avant-garde theater student in the 1960s coming up with this album and trying to produce it as a radio-musical. The narrative, though more autobiographical and stream-of-consciousness orientated, allows yourself to connect to moments of a life rather than experience the piece as its own living being.

What I have always connected to is the sense of finding oneself through the Lumineers’ albums. And, the story behind this album allows you to do so. After reading numerous interviews, Wesley Shultz and Jeremiah Fraites both concede that the album can be pretty on the nose in reference to the past two years. But, that allowed them to slow down and experience what touring hadn’t allowed them to. Can’t we all connect to that sentiment?

However, that being said, I found myself thinking, “Slow it down and come back to bed. Rest your heart and rest your head” (some popular lines from their first album). This melancholy has always been the Lumineers and I doubt that it will ever leave them. So, like the Beatles and Dylan before them, will you still listen to them as they drift further and further away from what they once were?

Personally, I like the album. It would probably make a perfect NPR tiny desk project. But, nothing makes me want to scream and shout or clap along. The connection to what the album is stands and echoes as haunting. A nice epithet to one of the most challenging moments and era of our lives.

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How does Brightside hold up to the Lumineers' discography? Will Aaron one day join them on stage? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to subscribe at the top of the blog for daily updates!

- Botts