Artist:     The Lumineers

Album:     III

Label:     Dualtone Records

Release Date:     10.10.2019

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Beauty doesn’t always need to be pretty. In III, the Lumineers prove the point. The beauty of the music and the poignancy of the lyrics paint a series of vignettes that portray the often diminished, desperate lives of three generations of often forgotten people. The story begins with the simple ethereal sound of a piano, covering the underlying pain and despair of “Donna,” where “A little boy was born in February / You couldn’t sober up to hold the baby.” The first single from the album, “Gloria,” is a love story seen through the eyes of an addict and her family, where “no one said enough is enough” and the upbeat music belies the undercurrent of the message.

We listen to stories of “Life in the City,” personal landslides that bring loneliness and longing, and the heartbreaking story of “Jimmy Sparks,” a man left to raise a child in world of mishap. “It was 3 am” as the story closes with the stroke of that lonesome piano note. We also find inspiration, hope, and steadfast stamina in the sublime cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Democracy.”

Through it all, the music, whether the solitary piano, the rush of powerful percussion, or the simple ease of acoustic guitars, creates a safety net where the desperation of the characters is somehow bearable and clothed in a sad beauty. As the story ends, we are left with one question: “Don’t you think if it was up to me I would choose to be happy?”

—Gene Knapp