February 14, 2025 • 7 mins
US indie folk band The Lumineers are back.
Automatic is the group’s fifth studio album, and has members Jeremiah Fraites and Wesley Schultz travelling “new sonic and thematic terrain” after twenty years of partnership.
There’s a vulnerability and intimacy to the music, with vocalist Schultz pushing his vocals to the limit.
Estelle Clifford joined Jack Tame to share her thoughts on the release.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame podcast
from News Talks at B.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
From The Shame, Live for Love, Yesday, Low Eye Stretch,
see Old Cord fashing down the.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Dream, Let the Lie com down, me, let the lie calm.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
Now, this is your all I got. It's by the
lumine Ears. They've just released their latest album. It's their
fifth album. The album's called Automatic and the Stelle. Clifford
Our Music Review has been listening more than.
Speaker 5 (01:01):
Na Nothing like a heart reaching ballad for Valentine. Yes,
he has a stellar voice and it's really showcased in
this album. So something about the luminis after that massive
song ho hey, that's like just been everywhere and it's
(01:22):
got that big strum banjoey kind of sound. And it
was at a time when all of there were kind
of those folky bands coming to the Forefronte, the Lumineers
of Monsters and Men, what's the other guys on? Yeah,
it was all the rage and I and I think
that's great and I love that kind of folky sound.
(01:43):
This album steps slightly to the side of that and
I like it because I think it's an evolution of
what they are as musicians, and it's pushed them right,
and I think what the sound, what the sound is
here is that their producer has kind of decided to
do something different. So he watched that doco Penajexon's Dooco
of the Beatles, The Long One. Yeah, yeah, the Long One,
(02:05):
which actually you're weird because you're watching them, going like
what am I watching the real people? I kind of
almost expect to see actors and you're like, oh no, wait,
this is real studio vibes. And so he was really yeah,
he was really taken with that and that whole like
just set up a room to be the studio and
just record it like that, so go almost live, I suppose.
(02:26):
And I think that took these guys somewhere else because
they've always had really big vocals, but they've obviously they've
layered them. They've been able to do tracks, right, So
you record a track, you record a track, you record
a track, and you layer it all in. But this
time it's kind of got that more raw, just as
it is one guy singing, and I think it leans
into that folky but also it kind of adds this
(02:47):
kind of real rawness and emotive type of way of
capturing a song, Like a couple of the songs on
this album, I think that the very last song and
maybe the one there You're Got is like they did
kind of two takes and they were like, yeah, I
think that's it, Like leave that edgy kind of sound
about it, and you've sort of had to run around
(03:07):
a studio to capture all the sounds, and Yeah, I
really like it. Wesley Schultz, he does have that voice,
and he said he's kind of done it on purpose
in this album where he's almost at that breaking point
of where his register can go. So it sounds quite
vulnerable and you're almost expecting him to crack, you know
what I mean, like, which I think again sort of
gives you that real emotive sort of sound to a
(03:29):
voice when it's kind of tension where you're like, I
don't know if his voice can go much higher or
further than that, Yeah, which I like. There's something about
it that I feel he's really committed to what he's
saying and what he's singing. There's still that kind of
witch that I think the Luminias have had, Like it's
that dry, sort of dark probably humor that we relate
to as kiwis it amongst the lyrics, so still really
(03:52):
storytelling kind of songs, but again a bit more heart
on sleeve, not overproduced. One of the big gems that
will be quite huge of this album I think is
called slow Burn.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Right.
Speaker 5 (04:04):
Interestingly enough, it's not a slow song just the title.
It's actually that real upbeat, fast paced the lumineus ho
he almost kind of sound that you think, and it's
really led by the drums that they've done. First, I've
watched a couple of videos of them creating the song
and sort of they were really heavy on this this
(04:26):
tempo and this beat. But actually then the beautiful piano
plane comes in and I think that's the thing that
brings it all together again, with him having this amazing
voice that kind of goes over the top. Lots of
lots of super catchy tunes, but then some real simple
paired back so kind of like some real simple ballads,
but then they can go full anthem at the same
time with more of a really emotionally charged, intimate sort
(04:50):
of sound to them. I think that they both really
flourished in this kind of new way of recording and environments.
So there you go. Everyone's just constantly inspired by the Beatles.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
Yeah, yeah, I don't know. I leave you to compare
the luminaeas with the Beatles.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
Mak in comparison just the record just I mean, we're
not ever going to be able to get John Lennon
pul McCartney in a room together again. But you know,
like there's a lot to be said though.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
I mean, career has always talk about there's like being
in it exposed to new ways of doing things and
being in new spaces. There's something it does to the
synapses or whatever, right.
Speaker 5 (05:21):
That's right, and just shaking it up that much to
also trust that you're great musicians, that you'll capture something
that maybe is a little more on the edge than
what you were thinking you were going to do with
something just break away from what has become your norm
I suppose. Yeah, And I like that the folks storytelling
still exists in here. But there's just something like this
(05:42):
album's really stuck to me, and I'm really pleased about that.
I wasn't quite sure where I was going to go
with this album.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
But yeah, so do you would you still do you
still call it like indy indie folk?
Speaker 5 (05:53):
I think you can still do indie folk. There's probably
a bit more of a rock sound to it, but
I think they still will probably sit in that genre.
It's so hard, isn't it to captureate people because they
have probably been in that indie folk thing for a
long time. This probably branches them out to the little
bit and I think that's okay too. Yeah, right, without
completely going like oh now we've become a baby.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
It's not out of the bath order. Yeah, they're not
stadium rock necessarily just yet.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (06:15):
And there's some sort of Coldplay influence in the air,
you know, those kind of big anthems that come about,
and this leading voice that sort of sits over the
top of everything.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
So maybe a little bit more of a pop fusion
as well. Yeah, but yeah, yeah, Okay, it's a really
enjoyable listen. I recommend it great.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
Okay, that sounds really good. So what did you give it?
Automatic by the luminairsh I'm.
Speaker 5 (06:34):
Going to give it an out of ten. It feels
familiar very quickly. A lot going on with that.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
I feel like I've scared you out of doing ten
to eighteen out of tens, which I never wanted to do.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
Maybe people have to work harder to impress it exactly.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
Yeah, okay, maybe that's it. Maybe that's it. All right,
it's a good album, Yeah, very good. I'm looking forward
to having a listen. Okay, Automatic by the Luminias is
the album eight out of ten is stale Clifford Our
Music review. I reckons it's worth. We're gonna have a
bit more of a listening in a few minutes. Right now,
it's nine to twelve.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to news Talks at B from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame podcast
from News Talks at B.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
From The Shame, Live for Love, Yesday, Low Eye Stretch,
see Old Cord fashing down the.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Dream, Let the Lie com down, me, let the lie calm.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
Now, this is your all I got. It's by the
lumine Ears. They've just released their latest album. It's their
fifth album. The album's called Automatic and the Stelle. Clifford
Our Music Review has been listening more than.
Speaker 5 (01:01):
Na Nothing like a heart reaching ballad for Valentine. Yes,
he has a stellar voice and it's really showcased in
this album. So something about the luminis after that massive
song ho hey, that's like just been everywhere and it's
(01:22):
got that big strum banjoey kind of sound. And it
was at a time when all of there were kind
of those folky bands coming to the Forefronte, the Lumineers
of Monsters and Men, what's the other guys on? Yeah,
it was all the rage and I and I think
that's great and I love that kind of folky sound.
(01:43):
This album steps slightly to the side of that and
I like it because I think it's an evolution of
what they are as musicians, and it's pushed them right,
and I think what the sound, what the sound is
here is that their producer has kind of decided to
do something different. So he watched that doco Penajexon's Dooco
of the Beatles, The Long One. Yeah, yeah, the Long One,
(02:05):
which actually you're weird because you're watching them, going like
what am I watching the real people? I kind of
almost expect to see actors and you're like, oh no, wait,
this is real studio vibes. And so he was really yeah,
he was really taken with that and that whole like
just set up a room to be the studio and
just record it like that, so go almost live, I suppose.
(02:26):
And I think that took these guys somewhere else because
they've always had really big vocals, but they've obviously they've
layered them. They've been able to do tracks, right, So
you record a track, you record a track, you record
a track, and you layer it all in. But this
time it's kind of got that more raw, just as
it is one guy singing, and I think it leans
into that folky but also it kind of adds this
(02:47):
kind of real rawness and emotive type of way of
capturing a song, Like a couple of the songs on
this album, I think that the very last song and
maybe the one there You're Got is like they did
kind of two takes and they were like, yeah, I
think that's it, Like leave that edgy kind of sound
about it, and you've sort of had to run around
(03:07):
a studio to capture all the sounds, and Yeah, I
really like it. Wesley Schultz, he does have that voice,
and he said he's kind of done it on purpose
in this album where he's almost at that breaking point
of where his register can go. So it sounds quite
vulnerable and you're almost expecting him to crack, you know
what I mean, like, which I think again sort of
gives you that real emotive sort of sound to a
(03:29):
voice when it's kind of tension where you're like, I
don't know if his voice can go much higher or
further than that, Yeah, which I like. There's something about
it that I feel he's really committed to what he's
saying and what he's singing. There's still that kind of
witch that I think the Luminias have had, Like it's
that dry, sort of dark probably humor that we relate
to as kiwis it amongst the lyrics, so still really
(03:52):
storytelling kind of songs, but again a bit more heart
on sleeve, not overproduced. One of the big gems that
will be quite huge of this album I think is
called slow Burn.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Right.
Speaker 5 (04:04):
Interestingly enough, it's not a slow song just the title.
It's actually that real upbeat, fast paced the lumineus ho
he almost kind of sound that you think, and it's
really led by the drums that they've done. First, I've
watched a couple of videos of them creating the song
and sort of they were really heavy on this this
(04:26):
tempo and this beat. But actually then the beautiful piano
plane comes in and I think that's the thing that
brings it all together again, with him having this amazing
voice that kind of goes over the top. Lots of
lots of super catchy tunes, but then some real simple
paired back so kind of like some real simple ballads,
but then they can go full anthem at the same
time with more of a really emotionally charged, intimate sort
(04:50):
of sound to them. I think that they both really
flourished in this kind of new way of recording and environments.
So there you go. Everyone's just constantly inspired by the Beatles.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
Yeah, yeah, I don't know. I leave you to compare
the luminaeas with the Beatles.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
Mak in comparison just the record just I mean, we're
not ever going to be able to get John Lennon
pul McCartney in a room together again. But you know,
like there's a lot to be said though.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
I mean, career has always talk about there's like being
in it exposed to new ways of doing things and
being in new spaces. There's something it does to the
synapses or whatever, right.
Speaker 5 (05:21):
That's right, and just shaking it up that much to
also trust that you're great musicians, that you'll capture something
that maybe is a little more on the edge than
what you were thinking you were going to do with
something just break away from what has become your norm
I suppose. Yeah, And I like that the folks storytelling
still exists in here. But there's just something like this
(05:42):
album's really stuck to me, and I'm really pleased about that.
I wasn't quite sure where I was going to go
with this album.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
But yeah, so do you would you still do you
still call it like indy indie folk?
Speaker 5 (05:53):
I think you can still do indie folk. There's probably
a bit more of a rock sound to it, but
I think they still will probably sit in that genre.
It's so hard, isn't it to captureate people because they
have probably been in that indie folk thing for a
long time. This probably branches them out to the little
bit and I think that's okay too. Yeah, right, without
completely going like oh now we've become a baby.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
It's not out of the bath order. Yeah, they're not
stadium rock necessarily just yet.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (06:15):
And there's some sort of Coldplay influence in the air,
you know, those kind of big anthems that come about,
and this leading voice that sort of sits over the
top of everything.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
So maybe a little bit more of a pop fusion
as well. Yeah, but yeah, yeah, Okay, it's a really
enjoyable listen. I recommend it great.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
Okay, that sounds really good. So what did you give it?
Automatic by the luminairsh I'm.
Speaker 5 (06:34):
Going to give it an out of ten. It feels
familiar very quickly. A lot going on with that.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
I feel like I've scared you out of doing ten
to eighteen out of tens, which I never wanted to do.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
Maybe people have to work harder to impress it exactly.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
Yeah, okay, maybe that's it. Maybe that's it. All right,
it's a good album, Yeah, very good. I'm looking forward
to having a listen. Okay, Automatic by the Luminias is
the album eight out of ten is stale Clifford Our
Music review. I reckons it's worth. We're gonna have a
bit more of a listening in a few minutes. Right now,
it's nine to twelve.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to news Talks at B from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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