The Lumineers think it is a "crazy time" to be releasing music.
The ‘Ho Hey’ hitmakers are releasing three EPs – featuring songs about the fictional Sparks family – in the coming months ahead of compiling them onto third album ‘III’ and admitted they wanted to "trick" people into renewing their interest in longer forms and taking advantage of the fact there is no longer a conventional release schedule around singles and LPs.
Singer Wesley Schultz said: "We had this idea of passing out a record in chapters because, for us, it’s a way of tricking people into getting into the longer form.
"Childish Gambino came out with a single, ‘This Is America’, not even part of an EP, and it was one of the biggest songs of the year. It’s a pretty crazy time so why not embrace it?"
The songs touch on subjects including addiction, depression and dysfunctional relationships, and while they are centred around the lives of grandmother Gloria Sparks, her son Jimmy and grandson Junior, Wesley admitted they are based on members of his own family, but he created the aliases to give them some anonymity.
He told The Sun newspaper: "[The Sparks family gives] a layer of anonymity for people in my extended family that I’m singing about.
"I’m trying to give them a bit of privacy while still really airing some dirty laundry."
Meanwhile, the group are huge fans of the Glastonbury festival and even though the music industry is changing, it’s one thing they don’t believe will ever go away.
Wesley said: "At a time when we’re increasingly lost in our own individual vacuums, it’s very communal and I think that’s why it will remain. You can’t replicate it by watching the DVD."
His bandmate, Jeremiah Fraites, added: "It’s amazing, one of a kind. It’s like a scene from Braveheart with all the flags.
"The Coachellas and Lollapaloozas of America are very polished. Glastonbury is very nice but it’s also very raw with the mud, the rain, the fields. And getting there is insane."
The Lumineers wanted to ‘trick’ people with EPs
