Notes on a Thursday

source: Under the Radar mag

Mumford & Sons. Holy God, Mumford & Sons. This is what indie-music should be. This is what the neo-folk revival should be (and is, in England). Their album, Sigh No More, is a revelation in so many ways. 

I downloaded the first single, "Little Lion Man" ages ago, while I was still in school. A friend of mine and I independently discovered the song and spent an entire class period surreptitiously exalting over it. But despite this, I didn't download the whole album (which was released in February) until . . . yesterday. Unbelievable. 

VH1 has started playing the video for "Little Lion Man" on TV in the mornings on some sort of "Artists you Should Know" thing, which prompted the purchase.

Now, "Little Lion Man" is excellent. It sounds so joyful and was somehow both similar to the music I love yet different from anything I'd heard. The lyrics are so interesting, as well. You can't help but want to grasp their meaning, figure out exactly what the lead vocalist, Marcus Mumford is saying. All the band members sing, creating incredible harmonies that just lift up through the air (almost like Fleet Foxes, but different). It's been quite awhile since I've heard a band blend this well. And best of all, they seem to have such fun playing together. But despite the fun, and the beat and chorus you can't help but dance to . . . it's not a particularly happy song, is it? The juxtaposition works, somehow, without being trite.




The opening song (and title track) "Sign No More" is almost beyond words. The banjo, played by "Country" Winston Marshall, is just . . . . well, I haven't been this enamored of a banjo for a long time. The banjo is an integral component of the music, and it's a-rocking, but it's not self-indulgent or hipster (like "ooooh, we're so indie, we have a banjo in our band"). It's just right. And the woooords

"love, it will not betray you
dismay or enslave you,
it will set you free
be more like the man
you were made to be"

and the song, that has been so solid, so strong and steady, revs up into this . . .  I can't even describe it. For me, it's purely emotional. The sort of music that just makes you lift your arms in the air and dance, waving wildly, closing your eyes so that there's nothing to focus on but how the music makes you feel. 

And each song on the album sounds slightly different, which is just spectacular. And when I say different, I mean . . . pretty different. Obviously the instruments are the same, but each song is a sort of theme and variations. And Mumford's voice is so versatile--the emotions are so clear in his voice, as it shifts and colors with each song.  At times it is strong and steady, trumpeting clearly above joyous cacophony, and at other times it is rough and careworn. It's not perfect, it's not auto-tuned; it's real, and it latches into your soul more than overly-engineered sounds do.

"Winter Winds" is a track that should also be sought out, as should "Awake My Soul."

"Dust Bowl Dance" is such a surprise, I think. It becomes almost like a Tom Waits song, about pain and sorrow and wrongdoings, and sin and repetence and revenge and fear.  It's one of the harder songs on the album, and one of the few that I can recognize legitimate electronic instruments' presence. Guitars jar, drums and cymbals crash, piano chords pound, and Mumford's voice slides devilishly low to grate against your guilt.