Less than one year after Rushmere comes a whole new Mumford and Sons album!
I won’t lie, I was almost annoyed to see a new Mumford & Sons album on the release schedule. Rushmere, their previous 5th studio album, had felt very undercooked, despite there being a seven year gap to have written a decent album in. It had a couple of classic Mumford tracks, but also a lot of tracks that really would have benefited from another pass before being put on the finished pile. Not that any of that held it back from being a very successful number one album and Mumford mania once again came resurgent across the UK. So a whole fourteen more tracks, less than one year later, come with a sense of trepidation. A couple of singles in advance, that on a first listen felt quite middling, did not do anything to help dispel the sense of fear. However, the end product is actually a lot more of a cohesive album than Rushmere managed to be.
The first thing in the new album’s favour is that Aaron Dessner, of The National, is back on production duties for them. With a collection of songs often a lot mellower than the full bloodied early indie roar of the band of ‘The Cave’ and ‘Little Lion Man,’ Dessner is well placed to help provide these tracks with the sonic room they need to breathe in. This is his first work with the band since their third album, Wilder Mind, and he is listed as a co-writer on many of the tracks.
Maybe Rushmere served a job to clear the songwriting rustiness as a band. Maybe the large number of collaborations on the new album helped provide some fresh energy. Regardless, this feels like a band reborn. Older, wiser, but still with that ability to throw in some soaring energy near a chorus when they feel the tune needs it. Remarkably, the majority of it was written in just ten days, a naturalness and a sense of urgency coming from not overthinking too many of the tracks.
The first track, ‘Here,’ is a collaboration with influential US country musician Chris Stapleton. It is something of a grower, if not a little bit generic. The appearance of Hozier on ‘Rubber Band Man’ is less of a surprise. The artists struck up a friendship many years back. Hozier joined Mumford & Sons on stage to cover The Beatles’ ‘A Little Help From My Friends‘ when the British band headlined the Longitude Festival in 2017. He also guested with them at the Austin City Limits Festival in Texas in 2023. The track takes a while to get going but the chorus feels like classic Mumford & Sons.
‘The Banjo Song’ is not going to convince anybody who has ever had a dislike of the band’s style to change their mind. However, despite the lack of effort on the title, it has improved greatly for repeat listening. ‘Run Together’ is even mellower, the track allows Marcus Mumford’s fine voice to do the heavy lifting. As it shifts along it feels increasingly emotive, the sort of track the band has always prided themselves on. ‘Conversation With My Son (Gangsters & Angels)’ equally feels like it grows in stature as it builds through the five minutes. What could be very twee and generic feels real and important and bursting with emotional truth. One could imagine The National’s Matt Berninger spitting out the ‘Alleycat’ refrain of, “Is this all there is? What do you mean this is not enough for you?”
‘Prizefighter’ instantly makes you sit up when the distinctive voice of Justin Vernon, Bon Iver himself, pops up in the chorus. He helped to co-write this, the pick of the three released singles. There is an equally striking collaboration with ‘Sailor Song’s Gigi Perez, one of the most brilliant tracks of 2024. This is not quite in that league, but Perez breathes life into the tune. There is a real joy in the harmonizing between the two vocalists. The track that comes afterwards, ‘Stay’ is an absolute highlight of the album.
Not done yet with the high profile guests, Gracie Abrams joins the band on the utterly fragile ‘Badlands.’ Mumford and Sons are coming for ALL THE FEELS on this album. These tracks are going to run into a lot of people having a bad day and it is going to give voice to so many of their emotions. This is an album you could wallow in for a while. Equally, there is joy on here too. It is going to be sound-tracking a lot of lives, probably a lot of big emotional TV moments this year as well.
This is a real return to form following the disappointing Rushmere. Take out a little bit of the bloat and there is a phenomenal set of tracks lurking within.
Essential Tracks: ‘Alleycat,’ ‘Prizefighter,’ ‘Icarus,’ ‘Stay’ and ‘Badlands.’
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