MUMFORD AND SONS - Sigh No More

This debut record from Mumford & Sons was released in 2009, but I didn't stumble upon it until a month ago. I had heard of these guys, described as folk, and I thought they would be some wimpy folk band (read: boring). Then, my good friend Seppi, of the newly formed band Kid Charlemagne and the Magna Carta, sent me a listing of the songs his band would be playing at their first show. Mumford & Sons' "The Cave" was included on the list, as well as a link to the song's lyrics. Curious about this choice of a cover song, I took a look at the lyrics; I liked them a lot. A Youtube play of the song was next, followed by getting the album, and it was then that I fell in love.

This is my favorite record so far this year, regardless of when it was released. I've been listening to it as winter is turning into spring, which also brings many new possibilities to my life, and it has been a perfect soundtrack. It's a big album while keeping its feet on the ground; it's about finding new beginnings, endings, and many of the songs tell us to stay true to our own selves while giving the best we can. Marcus Mumford has one of the most gorgeous, powerful voices I've heard in a while. He can sing a ballad and then he can fill his voice with emotion and kick out the jams. This guy, he can do it all. He sings, he plays guitar, he plays a kick drum simultaneously while singing and playing guitar, and he plays drums. Plus he writes the songs. I can't believe he is only 24 years old because he has a maturity about his music that led me to believe he was much older. The arrangements and the lyrics are all so amazing. I haven't seen them live in person, but I managed to catch the live stream of their set at Coachella over the past weekend. Their songs carry over from the studio incredibly well. In fact, the energy and excitement that was present in their performance and the feedback from the crowd made the band even better than I previously thought they were (if that was possible).

For most of the past month, Sigh No More has been the music that plays in my car as I drive around. Trust me when I tell you that I do my fair share of driving, so this record has been receiving a considerable number of spins. I can't play it enough. I listen to it at work and I listen to it at home. Sometimes I even listen to it at the gym! But back to my previous thought that they were a wimpy folk band: yes, they are a folk band. Have some country, have some folk, have some bluegrass. Have some rock and roll. Have Mumford & Sons. They are a folk band, but they sure as hell ain't a wimpy folk band. They know how to rock out. I think that is one of the reasons why I like these guys so much. They can play beautiful songs that are at home in the sunshine and then switch to playing music with dark overtones that sounds like it's storming outside. They have the capacity to provide intimate, minimal instrumentation with just Marcus Mumford's vocals and guitar and then jump into full-band mode that could fill up an entire ocean with sound. Mumford and Sons are a band that get dynamics, and they use them to their full advantage. I love that a band like this has been tearing up the Billboard Rock charts, because it's good for music. I'm so sick of all those angsty "rock" bands who play terrible music yet manage to hit the charts. Mumford & Sons are a breath of fresh air and I am so happy that they are successful because it gives me hope that good music will eventually prevail.

I am so in love with the way this album fills my heart with emotion and makes me feel good about everything. There's so many amazing lyrics; here are just a few of my personal favorites:

"Love: it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you; it will set you free."
(From "Sigh No More")

"Stars hide your fires, these here are my desires and I won't give them up to you this time around. And so, I’ll be found with my stake stuck in this ground, marking the territory of this newly impassioned soul..."
(From "Roll Away Your Stone")

"We'll be washed and buried one day, my girl, and the time we were given will be left for the world. The flesh that lived and loved will be eaten by plague; so let the memories be good for those who stay."
(From "Winter Winds")

"You are my accuser, now, look in my face. Your opression reeks of your greed and disgrace. So one man has and another has not; how can you love what it is you have got, when you took it all from the weak hands of the poor? Liars and thieves you know not what is in store; there will come a time I will look in your eye, you will pray to the God that you've always denied. Then I'll go out back and I'll get my gun. I'll say, "You haven't met me, I am the only son!""
(From "Dust Bowl Dance")(This one you really need to listen to the whole song for the full effect, but I feel weird posting the entirety of the lyrics here...so, yeah.)


I could keep going, but a lot of these are simply for personal reference anyway, so I will stop now. And I could go on and on and on about how amazing this album is, but I think I'll stop, at least for now. I've got to go listen to Sigh No More.