The Lumineers release UK single Angela, read the amazing story behind recording process here

Posted on 24 February 2017
By Khyle Deen
  • Share:

Americana stars The Lumineers today released UK single, ‘Angela’ – which has already been streamed over 25 Million times on Spotify and is one of the band’s strongest pieces of songwriting to date.

The track is featured on The Lumineers seminal second studio album ‘Cleopatra’, which was produced by Simone Felice. The album peaked at No. 1 on both the US Billboard 200 and UK album chart when released last year and has won praise from fans and critics alike. Drowned In Sound described the album as “one of the finest follow-up records for quite some time” and The Evening Standard added it was, “Echo-laden, sparse Americana illuminated by Wesley Schultz’s remarkable voice.”

‘Angela’ is a subtle and restrained classic folk-rock song, which could have come straight out of Laurel Canyon in the late 60s-70s. It builds and crescendos seemingly lost in the vault of classic songwriting, reappeared in 2017 as ageless and compelling, drawing the listener in on the first note and keeping them hanging on until the last note. Keeping with the bands’ calling card for song serving restraint, ‘Angela’ stands strongly on its own with a simple picked guitar line and lonely lead vocal which builds slowly, heartily to the hooky “Home at last” chorus.

The only track written in the studio at the time of recording –‘Angela’ felt the freshest of the batch the group recorded for LP2 and with that came a touch of uncertainty for the group. Reflecting on the creative process behind the track Wesley Schultz stated: “We came into the studio with a batch of songs, but Angela was not one of them. But soon after we arrived, I found myself strumming the chords over and over and trying to work out verse melodies. Eventually, we decided it was a good verse, but wasn’t yet a song because it had no chorus. Simone, the producer, and Ryan Hewitt, the engineer, began recording me and Jer just running the song over and over. It went on so long, the two of them left, without us noticing, and ate dinner and came back. By the time they returned we had come up with the chorus and bridge. Luckily they had left the tape running, so we could go back and figure out what we had done and loved so much. Unlike the rest of the album, this song was written entirely in the studio. Because of that, you can hear a rawness and danger in it, that tends to go away as you get more familiar with a song. Also, most of the lyrics were written on a motorcycle – I was riding my Triumph through the Catskills with Simone (on his Suzuki), singing lyrics over the melody.”

Producer Simon Felice added: “I believe it all sprung from this cool, driving piano idea of Jer’s, which inspired the vocal melody of the verses, which opened the door to the song as a whole. It was the only cut off of Cleopatra that was written from scratch in the studio, a sort of 11th hour Hail Mary that we didn’t really see coming, which might explain that special, spontaneous urgency hiding just beneath the surface. One of my strongest memories is how good it felt when we finally got the middle 8 right, ‘Vacancy, hotel room, lost in me, lost in you…’, I was in the control room listening to Wes sing and I just spontaneously started clapping, I couldn’t help it, felt like a hallelujah moment, we quickly put up a mic and recorded the claps together that you hear on the record.”

The video for ‘Angela’ was part of a series of five videos for the record and was directed by Isaac Ravishankara. The series tells the story of a woman (Cleopatra – the albums’ namesake) in reverse chronological order. In ‘Angela’ we find our heroine in her early 20s, pregnant – and making a life-changing decision as we follow two parallel story lines. Discussing the video Wesley Schultz stated, “The Angela video is beautiful chapter of this music video series that our director Isaac, came up with… Like the other videos, it presents a sort of sliding-doors scenario, where our central character, a pregnant Cleopatra, is at a crossroads. If she chooses one path, her life will be drastically than the other”.

The band’s cameo in the video – playing a small house concert, is endearing considering the monster tour schedule they have unveiled for 2017. The Cleopatra World Tour has included two sold-out performances at New York City’s Madison Square Garden and continues across the USA, Canada, Japan and Australia. They will return to the UK and Europe this summer with an appearance at BST’s Hyde Park (With Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty) and then back to the US to play 13 stadium shows with U2. Please see full tour dates below.

FULL TOUR DATES ARE LISTED BELOW – ticket information: http://thelumineers.com/tour-dates/

FEB 28 2017 – VERNON THEATRE AT GRAND PRAIRIE, GRAND PRAIRIE, TX with Kaleo and Susto

MAR 2 2017 – SMART FINANCIAL CENTRE AT SUGAR LAND, SUGAR LAND, TX with Kaleo and Susto
MAR 2-5 2017 – OKEECHOBEE MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL, OKEECHOBEE, FL
MAR 3 2017 – UNO LAKEFRONT ARENA, NEW ORLEANS, LA with Kaleo and Susto
MAR 8 2017 – INFINITE ENERGY CENTER, DULUTH, GA with Kaleo and Susto
MAR 10 2017 – BANKERS LIFE FIELDHOUSE, INDIANAPOLIS, IN with Kaleo and Susto
MAR 11 2017 – HOLSTEIN CENTER, CLEVELAND, OH with Kaleo and Susto
MAR 14 2017 – PETERSEN EVENTS CENTER, PITTSBURGH, PA with Kaleo and Susto
MAR 16 2017 – MOHICAN SUN ARENA, UNCASVILLE, CT with Kaleo and Susto
MAR 18 2017 – BELL CENTRE, MONTREAL, CANADA with Kaleo and Susto
MAR 19 2017 – CENTRE VIDÉOTRON, QUÉBEC, CANADA with Kaleo and Susto
MAR 21 2017 – CANADIAN TIRE CENTRE, OTTAWA, CANADA with Kaleo and Susto
MAR 22 2017 – BUDWEISER GARDENS, LONDON, CANADA with Kaleo and Susto
MAR 24 2017 – WELLS FARGO ARENA, DES MOINES, IA with Kaleo and Susto
MAR 25 2017 – BMO HARRIS BRADLEY CENTER, MILWAUKEE, WI with Kaleo and Susto
MAR 28 2017 – MTS CENTRE, WINNIPEG, CANADA with Kaleo and Susto
MAR 30 2017 – SASKTEL CENTRE, SASKATOON, CANADA with Kaleo and Susto
MAR 31 2017 – ROGERS PLACE, EDMONTON, CANADA with Kaleo and Susto

APR 10 2017 – AKASAKA BLITZ, TOKYO, JAPAN
APR 13-17 2017 – BYRON BAY BLUESFEST, TYAGARAH, AUSTRALIA
APR 17 2017 – SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
APR 18 2017 – SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
APR 19 2017 – STATE THEATRE, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
APR 22 2017 – METRO CITY, PERTH, AUSTRALIA
APR 26 2017 – GREEN POINT PARK, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
APR 28 2017 – TICKETPRO DOME, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

MAY 20 2017 – ROSE BOWL, PASADENA, CA with U2
MAY 21 2017 – ROSE BOWL, PASADENA, CA with U2
MAY 24 2017 – NRG STADIUM, HOUSTON, TX with U2
MAY 26 2017 – AT&T STADIUM, ARLINGTON, TX with U2

JUN 3 2017 – SOLDIER FIELD, CHICAGO, IL with U2
JUN 4 2017 – SOLDIER FIELD, CHICAGO, IL with U2
JUN 7 2017 – HEINZ FIELD, PITTSBURGH, PA with U2
JUN 18 2017 – LINCOLN FINANCIAL FIELD, PHILADELPHIA, PA with U2
JUN 20 2017 – FEDEXFIELD, HYATTSVILLE, MD with U2
JUN 23 2017 – ROGERS CENTRE, TORONTO, CANADA with U2
JUN 25 2017 – GILLETTE STADIUM, FOXBOROUGH, MA with U2
JUN 28 2017 – METLIFE STADIUM, EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ with U2
JUN 29 2017 – METLIFE STADIUM, EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ with U2

JUL 1 2017 – ROSKILDE FESTIVAL, ROSKILDE, DENMARK
JUL 2 2017 – ROCK WERTHER,WERTHER, BELGIUM
JUL 3 2017 – VOLLHAUS – ZURICH, SWITZERLAND
JUL 6 2017 – MAD COOL FESTIVAL , MADRID, SPAIN
JUL 7-8 2017 – CRUILLA FESTIVAL, BARCELONA, SPAIN
JUL 9 2017 – BST HYDE PARK, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Stevie Nicks
JUL 10 2017 – AUDITORIUM PARCO DELLA MUSICA, ROME, ITALY
JUL 11 2017, SPILLA FESTIVAL, ANCONA, ITALY
JUL 12 2017 – CASTELLO DI VILLAFRANCA, VERONA, ITALY
JUL 15 2017 – MUSILAC FESTIVAL, AIX-LES-BAINS, FRANCE

AUG 17 2017 – ROGERS ARENA, VANCOUVER, CANADA with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
AUG 19 2017 – SAFECO FIELD, SEATTLE, WA with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Author