The Lumineers
Cleopatra

I won't deny it, I'm biased. To me, the Lumineers are a great breath of fresh air. Following up a remarkable debut is always difficult. Now they accompany the songs with a video titled "The Ballad of Cleopatra." It lasts 24 minutes and tells a story. Wes Schultz, the group's singer and guitarist, during one of his trips to Georgia meets a taxi driver who tells him her life story. Her father died when she was young, and her boyfriend asks her to leave with him. But she refuses and stays. So he leaves, and she will marry a man who will bring her only pain, a child, and separation. This is not just a collection of songs. It is life. What we choose, the decisions we make. Where they take us. The Lumineers have the ability to stop the moment and make it eternal because they do not impose it. They show it in its raw reality; calmly, without too much regret. Finding beauty even where there shouldn't be. In the midst of the empty, appearance-driven world, they bring us back to where it all begins and show what we forget in our rush toward nothingness. And it hurts to accept this because it's like saying we've done everything wrong. No. We haven't done wrong. We made our choices. Where they have taken us, everyone has their own answer within themselves if they have the courage to look deeply. I recommend watching the video as well; it deserves attention and makes you appreciate more the artistic effort of this group. There's no single song that stands out from the others. They all have the same mood. Yes, maybe they sound alike, but I consider it a merit. You find yourself in an unfamiliar place, and nothing else matters; only simply emotions translated into sounds.