Mumford and Sons
London, England
Fleet Foxes, Swell Season, Arcade Fire
No, Mumford & Sons is not the name of some local roofing company. They are, in fact, four twenty-somethings from West London peddling heartfelt, well-crafted roots music at sold-out venues across the globe.
Birthed in London’s underground folk scene in 2007, Mumford & Sons—Marcus Mumford, Country Winston, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane–incorporate bits of all the genres they collectively hold dear, from bluegrass to folk to indie to 70s rock. Their songs are bittersweet, hopeful and introspective, not totally unlike Arcade Fire and Coldplay, a couple of other bands recorded by their producer Markus Dravs.
Most of the group’s debut, Sigh No More, is mellow and pastoral, with occasional forays into the more raucous and bawdy pub music of their homeland. The quartet’s instrumentation choices are just as important as those made in its songwriting: ample flourishes of banjo, accordion, upright bass and the like greatly enhance the organic atmosphere of both its recordings and live show.
The guess here is that a world tour playing to large and enthusiastic crowds night after night will cause them to unleash the beast a bit more on their next album—and we will all be thankful for that.
<3
amazing band. the end.