By taking a risk and releasing the album in parts, the final chapter was much anticipated
When you’re at the top of the game, you get to make new rules. In the case of Wesley Schultz, frontman and songwriter for The Lumineers, being a game shaker in the music industry allows you the chance to challenge previously held notions about how audiences ought to consume new music. With the band’s successful track record to back him up, Schultz set out to dive into the world of experimentation and release an album in three separate phases.
Releasing an album in three phases is no easy task—fans have to be dedicated enough to push past the initial frustration of only receiving a handful of songs at a time and survive off the excitement of the new idea. The smashing success of The Lumineers’ first two albums, 2012’s The Lumineers and 2016’s Cleopatra, was enough evidence to solidify the plans to release III (shockingly named) in three offerings.
Starting in May, EP-like releases in the forms of chapters have graced the ears of folk-pop fans and chilled with haunting visuals in the accompanying music videos. The album tells a story of a fictional family suffering the effects of addiction, which happens to be at the core of how the band formed years ago.
Bandmate Jeremiah Fraites’ older brother was Schultz childhood friend and died of an overdoes in 2001. As both felt the gutwrenching loss, they used music as medicine and found that their lyrics could be used to medicate fans everywhere as well.
As the band continues to push the envelope in the world of music and entertainment, it is their hope they will survive the ‘time of the single’ and that other artists will start to release music in chunks rather than as hit-singles.