Babel, the newest album from Mumford & Sons drops today, and it promises to be as successful as it was anticipated. Their breakout rookie album, Sigh No More, not only put them on the map, but resurrected an international folk movement that has infiltrated the pop and alternative radio stations alike. The double-platinum freshman juggernaut with virtually no shortcomings was not an easy task to follow up, which left fans salivating with fingers crossed in hopes of a worthy sophomore EP. “We wanted to do something unashamed,” says keyboard, drummer, utility player, Ben Lovett. “We’re confident and happy to be where we are as a band - everything that’s happened with us has exceeded expectations, and it’s all been a surprise, it’s all much bigger than what we were prepared for. So when we came to recording this record we had a choice: to shy away from that, or to realise that people dig what we’re doing, and make something robust, with that energy.”
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Babel is nothing shy of a more sophisticated and mature album than it’s predecessor. The banjo strings seem just a bit tighter and lyrics, just as crisp as they are vague. Then again writing lyrics to appease an audience as broad and large as theirs is no easy feat, but the raspy genuinity of frontman, Marcus Mumford, can mask the insulting ambiguity of Babel‘s simple words to sound like a love letter written by a hopeful hearted vagabond traveling by wagon on the Oregon Trail. Although, as an album, Babel does seem a bit too redundant to categorize it as true folk, it stems hints of it’s apparent origins. Then again it’s exactly what it’s fans want and expected; a conglomerate of indie rock and folk with a repetitive banjo hook for barefoot hipsters to link arms and propeller dance at music festivals. Isn’t it, after all? Key Tracks Babel, Whispers in the dark, Hopeless Wanderer
