Mumford & Sons is a quartet from london playing their own blend of gospel, bluegrass, british folk music and the modern folk rock. It’s anthemic, with a lot of sound, filled with big drums, acoustic guitar and dramatic volume changes. It often goes from complete silence to an explosion of sound, with banjo, brass, drums and vocal harmonies almost big as a choir. Marcus Mumford’s singing is both warm, calm, soaring and screaming.
The album starts with the easygoing title track “Sigh No More.” It starts quietly with an acoustic guitar and gospel harmonies. It’s peaceful and the lyric touch topics like love, redemption, god and life. The silent gospel turns into a growing crescendo with banjo and trumpets. I think this first song reflects quite well how the rest of the album is.
The album has a lot of different songs though, like “Roll Away Your Stone,” which is a poppy bluegrass tune. It contains a lot of energy, a great melody and it’s just a really cool song. Banjo is a fantastic instrument. There’s also the dark and sad “Thistle & Weeds,” with maybe the creepiest bass ever. It actually reminds me of an aria (But Death, Alas!… When I Am Laid In Earth) from the opera “Dido and Aenas” by Henry Purcell. Other good songs are the great “Winter Winds,” a cozy winter song with a brass-ensamble, a bit reminiscent of Sufjan Stevens. You also have the single “Little Lion Man,” a powerful and energetic song about screwing up. And you have the peacefull country/soul/gospel of “Awake My Soul.” It has a great refrain (B-part) with sweet harmonies, fantastic banjo and soothing organ.
Still, the best song is “Dust Bowl Dance.” Easily. It’s a song about growing up alone, fighting for your rights, standing up for what you’ve done, being what you are and death. It starts off quietly and melancholic with only piano, before a quiet banjo comes in. It builds up piece by piece, and a lonely slideguitar joins in. It keeps growing and so does marcus’ bitterness in vocal. It builds and builds until it’s noisy, big and ripping and that’s when the quiet vocal comes in and ends this perfect song.
I guess the only problem with this album is that many of the songs have too much of a similar song structure. It starts quietly and ends in a big crescendo with banjo arpeggios, drums and vocal harmonies. It’s just a small problem when the songs are as good as they are though. And the problem disappears when you just hear “Dust Bowl Dance.” This is an impressive debut, and I believe that they have much more coming.