Review: The Lumineers - Cleopatra "Second album Crisis?"

Propelled by the commercial success of the ultimately annoying 'Ho Hey', The Lumineers self-titled debut album was a top ten success in multiple territories, with sales in the US alone topping 1.3 million units.  Anticipation is high for the quintet's second effort, with their busy touring schedule for the next six months featuring many sold out shows, such as all of the UK dates.

But all too often when a band makes a commercial breakthrough, the desire to capitalise on it leads to a second-rate batch of material or evidently desperate attempts to repeat the tricks that got them noticed.  To that end, the four year wait for 'Cleopatra' is evidence of a different approach - and there's certainly no contrived recreation of their best known hit.  They do, however, continue what they know and create - this is no MGMT second album crisis - warming indie folk.  'Sleep On The Floor' is a slow, stirring opener which will have you convinced that starting over again is the greatest idea, while 'Ophelia' has an urgent piano melody that'll lodge itself in your mind.  The title track tries a little too enthusiastically to raise the tempo, while 'Angela' proves an almost alluring acoustic cut.  A couple of the latter tracks, namely 'Long Way From Home' and 'Sick In The Head' see any momentum curtailed, but 'My Eyes' is a reminder before the record ends of what The Lumineers are capable of when they dont try too hard.