Platinum-selling, Denver outfit, The Lumineers, today release the music video for new single ‘Ophelia’, the first track from their eagerly-awaited second album ‘Cleopatra’ – the follow-up to their multi-Grammy-nominated, self-titled debut. The band are also hitting the road for a much anticipated headline UK tour this April, which will see them headlining London's O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire. The dazzling ‘Ophelia' is the comeback single that fans have been waiting for. Its sing-along vocals and rolling piano hooks instantly conjure up the classic Lumineers sound that took the country by storm back in 2012 when the band released their debut album. It immediately picks up where the band left off, receiving 1.8 million streams in just 5 days on Spotify and climbing to #3 in Spotify’s global, viral charts. The track has already become a fan favourite, with fans paying homage to the tune by posting numerous cover versions of the track on YouTube within hours of its release.
The stunning single is now accompanied by equally evocative visuals in a beautifully shot new music video from director Isaac Ravishankara. The video features the band’s frontman, Wesley Schultz, dancing in the streets in mesmerizing scenes that pay homage to the classic Gene Kelly film ‘Singin’ In the Rain’. Wes stated: “For the music video Ophelia, our good friend Isaac Ravishankara, who directed the Stubbon Love music video from our first record, brought us a treatment that involved me dancing in the streets while it was raining so I had to learn choreography for the first time in my life. I learned how to dance for this music video”
After exploding onto the scene with their monster single, 'Ho Hey', and its follow-up, 'Stubborn Love' (recently featured on President Barack Obama’s Spotify playlist), The Lumineers spent a solid three years touring six of the seven continents. During that time, the band earned a pair of Grammy nominations (Best New Artist, Best Americana Album), contributed two songs to The Hunger Games franchise (including the hit Jennifer Lawrence/James Newton Howard collaboration, 'The Hanging Tree') and sold an impressive 3 million+ albums worldwide.
The Lumineers took the UK by storm with the release of their first album in 2012, which propelled them from appearing at Hoxton Bar & Grill as relative unknowns, to playing two consecutive sold-out nights at Brixton Academy and headlining the 10,400 capacity Alexandra Palace as household names. And it was their show-stopping performance on the Other Stage at Glastonbury in 2013 that cemented their position as one of the biggest breakout bands in the world.
But Cleopatra proves original members Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites – who founded the band in Ramsey, New Jersey back in 2002 – 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 band ensconced themselves in The Clubhouse, a recording studio high atop a hill in rural Rhinebeck, NY, not far from Woodstock. The Lumineers then set about trying to make musical sense of their three-year-plus rollercoaster ride. Their skill at setting a visual story to music comes through amidst the delicate, deceptively simple acoustic soundscapes.
“We took the same approach this time as we did with the first album, recording demos in a small house we rented in the original Denver neighbourhood where we first moved,” explains Wesley, contributing the lyrical ideas while collaborating on the music with Jeremiah, who tackled a variety of instruments, including guitar, the very prominent piano and trademark tribal drums.
There is something timeless about this band that links their songs to 18th century pastorals, 19th century work songs, 20th century folk narratives and 21st century post-modern cinematic soundscapes. Success hasn’t spoiled The Lumineers; rather, it’s inspired them to follow their muses even further.
HEADLINE UK 2016 TOUR:
Thur Apr 14 – Bristol, O2 Academy Fri Apr 15 – Glasgow, Barrowlands Tue Apr 19 – Manchester, Albert Hall Sat Apr 23 – London, O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
For first access to tickets visit www.thelumineers.com
No comments:
Post a Comment