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An ‘Automatic’ hit from The Lumineers
By Benjamin Shinault
On Feb. 14, The Lumineers released a gentle and emotional set of music. The duo’s fifth studio album was an assortment of tracks honing in on self-reflection, love and true human emotion.
As a casual fan of The Lumineers, I was used to the upbeat sound of their popular songs like “Ophelia,” “Cleopatra” and “Sleep on the Floor” from their second studio album, “Cleopatra.” But, throwing in my AirPods and taking note of the vocal tones, lyrical crafting and the use of the iconic, signature piano allowed me to take something away from each and every song.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me // I killed the mood so naturally,” is within the first couple lines of “Same Old Song,” the first track on the record. It helps set the scene of the whole album where the music attempts to generate a feeling of introspection and nostalgia.
The song contains an upbeat tempo while still keeping the theme of melancholy in tow, “Cause I don’t feel it like I did back then in a // black sedan of depression.” The raw vocals of lead singer and guitarist, Wesley Schultz, are present and truly authentic to the theme of the song.
The next song, “A—,” is a song aimed toward a certain someone in the singer’s life with lyrics like, “I must admit, the taste of it is keepin’ me awake off the scent // Betrayed yourself on accident.” We can also take away that there is a sense of remembrance in the song and the singer is reflecting on a past relationship that he misses.
Following “A—,” is a song titled “Strings.” This 34-second song is composed of a beautiful assortment of instruments. Within the instrumental, the listener is soothed by sounds of an orchestra, serving as a great transition into the title track, “Automatic.”
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Illustration by Caitlyn Lawlor/The Rider News
In the song, “Automatic,” you can actually hear the instrumental of “Strings” as well. “Automatic,” once more, is telling the story of how the singer’s love is automatic, no matter what the singer may do, the love stays strong.
“Oh, my lover, is it ever gonna be enough // Automatic // It’s automatic.”
Staying with the loving theme present in “Automatic,” I could get the sense that the theme was continuing into the next track, “You’re All I Got.” In the bridge of the song, paired with the eminent piano playing of Jeremiah Fraites, are the lyrics, “And I can’t give it up // Fillin’ all the holes in us // You’re all that I got // You’re all I got.” The subject of the song fears losing his person, and reflects on past memories.
Moving away from the theme of love and reflection, the next song “Plasticine,” takes a much different approach. With a verse of, “Plasticine, I can bend me into anything you need // Self-assured with the teleprompters feedin’ you the words,” it’s safe to assume that the theme is people trying to form the singer into whatever they want through words, actions and attempting to pry the singer into putting on a fake face.
Still staying away from the theme of love, we get to a theme of depression and anxiety, with a track titled, “Ativan.” Ativan, is a benzodiazepine medication used to treat anxiety and can also assist in treating depression. As the title suggests, the song captures some of the many themes of the album: anxiety, depression and reflection.
The next three tracks following “Ativan” return back to a feeling of remorse and remembrance of past relationships with slower choruses paired with the influential sound of a piano. But the final track, “So Long” serves as the perfect closure with an acoustic guitar to leave the listener with hope and a great way to switch up the feeling as the album comes to a close.
As I mentioned at the jump, I am more used to the upbeat sounding songs of The Lumineers, but with the cold and blustery winds, dark afternoons of Rider’s campus, plugging in and hitting play on “Automatic” puts me in an emotional mood that I sometimes crave. The album, once again, shows the true range of The Lumineers music and how it moves its variety of fans.
Benjamin Shinault is a junior journalism major