Less than a yr because the launch of Mumford & Sons’ long-awaited fifth studio album “Rushmere,” the English folks rock band is again with a sixth: “Prizefighter,” an introspective however nonetheless upbeat return to their stomp-clap kind, now bolstered by new voices.
The album finds the band, made up of lead singer Marcus Mumford, Ted Dwane and Ben Lovett, alongside many collaborators. Aaron Dessner of The National coproduces all 14 tracks; options from Chris Stapleton, Gigi Perez of “Sailor Song” viral fame, Hozier and Gracie Abrams punctuate the album. Brandi Carlile, Finneas, Kevin Garrett, Jon Bellion and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver spherical out the writing credit, alongside Dessner and the band.
Carlile supplied inspiration for the only “Rubber Band Man,” a banjo and acoustic guitar-set reflection on flexibility and restoration that includes verses from Hozier. (Mumford stated lyrics for the tune got here to Carlile in a dream.)
Hozier’s verse, lyrically dense however sonically open, distills the tune’s thesis: “But don’t hold to yourself / With hard mortar and stone / Be a rubber band man / Make the water your bones.”
There are some worthy additions to the band’s canon between these options: “Begin Again” and “Stay” are fast-paced and earnest whereas the poetic nearer “Clover” sees Mumford fall right into a lullaby-like tempo that, sung atop a piano melody, recollects the aching film musical hit “Falling Slowly” by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. “Conversation With My Son (Gangsters & Angels)” is lyrically repetitive, however nonetheless shifting.
The characteristic tracks really feel like tentpoles for the mission, providing distinctive and memorable takes on the style when different songs begin to mix collectively. “Here,” with Stapleton, is the best, opening the album with a country-tinged, guitar and drum-forward ballad. Abrams’ whisper-sung tones add layers to Mumford’s on “Badlands.” The lyrics have a sentiment the 2 artists probably share, a need to push limits: “Running away from a tame life / Running away like a wild child / Give me a vision, give me a dime.”
Perez’s wealthy vocals demand consideration within the hovering duet “Icarus.” After Mumford’s introduction, Perez affords a warning over piano and guitar. “You’re a fool, you’re a climber / You shoulda called it a night.” Perez and the band sing collectively on the tune’s climax — additionally, the album’s climax — shakers, maracas and synth bass filling out the observe. “I was blinded, I was in love,” they sing collectively. “But then all at once / I was back to where I begun / I was burned by morning / I got too close to the sun.”
This collaborative strategy displays the spirit of Mumford & Sons’ distinctive summer time tour final yr, which noticed the group journey by practice from Louisiana to Vermont with dozens of musicians and crew, persevering with a journey began throughout a 2011 model of the Railroad Revival Tour. Stops alongside the best way introduced out the likes of Nathaniel Rateliff, Trombone Shorty, Lucius, Chris Thile, Maggie Rogers, Noah Kahan and Lainey Wilson, amongst others. Onstage collectively, they sang a mixture of the band’s songs, featured friends’ songs and different covers.
As the band sings (collectively) on the uplifting “Run Together”: “But when we run we run together / When we’re apart we fall apart.” Collaboration is king.
“Prizefighter” by Mumford & Sons
Three and a half stars out of 5.
On repeat: “Icarus (with Gigi Perez),” “Begin Again”
Skip it: “Alleycat,” “I’ll Tell You Everything”
For followers of: Aaron Dessner’s manufacturing universe, like Brandi Carlile’s “Returning to Myself,” Laufey’s “A Matter of Time,” Gracie Abrams’ “The Secret Of Us”
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