The story behind The Lumineers' new album, Automatic, is that there is no story.
As frontman Wesley Schultz tells ABC Audio, the record is the musical equivalent of "when you're about to talk but you have no idea what's gonna come out of your mouth."
"It was, like, a candid photograph of the band instead of a posed one," Schultz says.
Intentionally or otherwise, Automatic does weave a narrative that reflects Schultz and drummer Jeremiah Fraites' 20 years together as The Lumineers. That starts with the opening track and lead single, "Same Old Song," which looks back at the band's early days, including a line about a guitar belonging to Schultz's mom getting stolen.
While that might not sound like the happiest tale, Schultz has a more romantic view of the song's message.
"It started to dawn on me that we're still standing, and that's something," Schultz says. "And that we're still doing something that we're truly crazy for."
"The hook of it, 'Same old song, we sing the same old, same sad song,' it sounds negative, but it means a lot for me," he continues. "It means I just still wanna do this."
As you get deeper into Automatic, the lyric "you're all that I got" pops up in multiple songs, which Schultz feels forms the "accidental theme" of the album, particularly relating to his relationship with Fraites over the past two decades.
"It's said with both a lot of love and a little bit of resentment," Schultz laughs. "It's like, 'Damn, man, you're all that I got!' And we gotta take care of this thing."
Automatic is out now. The Lumineers will launch a U.S. headlining tour supporting the album in July.