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Many people will know Denver-based folk band The Lumineers from “Ho Hey,” their 2012 debut single and their biggest hit to date. The song was included along with their, slightly smaller, hit song “Stubborn Love,” on their 2013 self-titled debut album, which was met with fair success and good reviews.

In my opinion, The Lumineers was an absolutely stellar album from start to finish. It was catchy without being trite: the songs were emotional and had creative, distinctive lyrics, while also maintaining the ability to get stuck in your head for hours. The songs were consistent without being repetitive; they shared enough in their sound to make the album feel very cohesive, but they were different enough that it did not feel like you were listening to the same song over and over.

I loved the album as soon as I heard it. It soon grew to be one of my favorite albums of all time, and it is a large part of why I fell in love with the genre of music that The Lumineers do: that type of folk and acoustic rock that can be heard at E.A.R. concerts, Evening Prayers, and student open mic nights. The Lumineers exposed me to this kind of music, and now it takes up the majority of what I listen to and what I perform.

Since the album came out in 2013, fans have not heard much from The Lumineers – up until last week, they have only release one song, “Gale Song,” which came out as a part of the soundtrack for the “Hunger Games: Mockingjay” movie. Granted, it was a fantastic song, living up to and perhaps exceeding the expectations set by their debut album, but Lumineers fans were left with little hope for any considerable amount of music anytime soon.

Then, like a gift from the heavens, last week the band released a new single, “Ophelia,” and announced a title and release date for their next album. Cleopatra, their sophomore effort, will be coming out on April 8th. Both “Ophelia” and “Gale Song” will appear on the tracklist of the album, and if we can make any conclusions from these two songs, it is going to be an album to look forward to.

“Ophelia” is great. It preserves the same duality between catchy and substantive that we have come to expect from the Lumineers, and utilizes a somewhat more complex song structure than The Lumineers have used in the past, which ends up working incredibly well. The song is also very upbeat, in contrast to the more subdued “Gale Song,” so we can also expect the same diversity that we found on the first album.

On “Ophelia,” band leader Wesley Schultz showcases his distinctive and emotive singing voice, which was another big draw for the first album. His singing, especially near the top of his range, is commanding and expressive, and I look forward to hearing more of it on “Cleopatra.” I will be counting down the days until April 8, and I think if you give “Ophelia” a listen, you will feel the same way.