More Bible and banjo-bashing...but don't they do it well

Album: Babel
Artist: Mumford & Sons
Label: Island, Glassnote
Released: September 21, 2012
Peak chart position/sales: Stats not available yet.

RATING: 4/5 stars

In many ways, a multi-Platinum debut album is a curse. After the critics have stopped tripping over superlatives in their haste to acclaim the musical genius in question, the band must check out of Hotel Cloud Nine and come back to reality: the encore performance. Given that my gripe with Sigh No More was "is this all they can do?", it was with much anticipation that I waited for the album that the band claimed would "attract a different audience and broaden people's view" of them. What with their warnings that this new style might lose them fans and that they wanted to kick the "folk" label so readily ascribed to their earlier work, one was apt to think that Mumford & Sons had come of age, musically speaking.

Therefore I enjoyed track 1 with a hearty dose of laughter. And track 2. And track 3. It is the very same wild acoustic flaying, the very familiar arpeggiated banjo riffs, the similarly lyrical poetry of anguished love all over again and, if anything, Marcus Mumford is shouting louder than he did on "Little Lion Man". I'm sorry boys, I really tried to keep a straight face, but you cannot say you made "sacrifices" for something that sounds about as far out of your comfort zone as beards and banjos.

But before I get too caught up in critical glee, let's talk about the rest of the album. Because this is a better record than Sigh No More. Oh yes. For all the borrowed success from their previous album, there are far more nuances on Babel (which is not to say that it is actually nuanced - but they're getting better at subtlety), far more heart and no shortage of eloquent literary expression (complete with another beautifully articulated "f*cked" in "Broken Crown"). This, coupled with a smoother-sounding maturity and less regard for widespread accessibility, is the confidence that I was hoping they would prove. Mumford fans need not worry - the new sound is still safely within the domain of their fandom - but previous haters might also earn new respect for them.

From here.

After the initial adrenalin rush it's time for a whinge session as only Marcus Mumford can do. "You cut me doooooown" he moans atop thoughtful finger-picking on "Holland Road", the first in a trilogy of wailed curses. That's before the resolute banjo jangling sets in an epic crescendo again. But there's change in the air: 5'21" epic "Lover's Eyes" finally raises goosebumps and establishes the album as a confident move in a (slightly) new direction. With soaring harmonies ala "Roll Away Your Stone", the increasingly dramatic recapitulations build into almost unbearable tension - but this time it's a more polished sound. There's definitely a more serious feel to Babel. The second half digs deep into soulful catharsis with less reliance on crowd-pleasing musical dynamite, but at times (the almost painfully whiny "Reminder") still reeks of the self-indulgence which they are apt to slip into. Yet the band's increasing confidence in the studio is showing, and breath-taking numbers like "Hopeless Wanderer" shine in their emotive rawness without the rough edges.

But for all its new sounds and admirable constancy, Babel is a very logical step from Sigh No More - upping the ante somewhat, yet essentially reviving what made M&S successful in the first place. It's an excitingly mature, new and improved portfolio that will surely explode all over a live stage, but I'm still left wondering: can Mumford write about anything but broken hearts and sin? How much longer can he rip off literary works without ending up in court? And what would actually happen if they tried to crescendo without banjo? Perhaps the answer is that they wouldn't be Mumford & Sons anymore, so I'm going to let well alone, turn up the volume and enjoy a refreshing update on an impressive sound.

But they're still folk.

Listen to: Babel, Lovers' Eyes, Hopeless Wanderer

Is it worth my $$$? - I dived in and bought the deluxe version in good faith...what could have been a rash move has ended rather well.