U2 is going on tour to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of their classic Joshua Tree album and The Lumineers, a 3-person band out of Denver, will be their opening act on the US leg, which tells us that The Lumineers must be good.
Listening to “Cleopatra,” their current single, which is Top-10 on the Alternative chart, confirms that they are, indeed, very good.
The band’s style is folksy Americana and lead singer Wesley Schultz’s distinctive vocals remind us of Paul Simon. The song’s lyrics are Simon-like, too: creative and original; a story told in bits and pieces, with insight into the heart and the human condition.
The Lumineers hit the music big-time five years ago with their smash hit “Ho Hey.”
Paul Simon’s reggae inspired 1972 hit “Mother And Child Reunion” takes a different approach instrumentally than “Cleopatra” –but in both songs there is that “distinctive vocal.”