I recall the exact moment that I started listening to Mumford and Sons. I was at a friend's house who is -- by all definitions -- a complete and total hipster. It was our mutual friend's birthday, and he and his wife had brought cupcakes that she made (adorably shaped like billiard balls). While we were eating, my friend scoured through his music collection and pulled out a record, an actual vinyl record (I told you he was a hipster) to put on his record player. It was Mumford and Sons' "Little Lion Man." As I listened to the lyrics and listened to the music, I became enraptured by everything. I love music and I listen to a lot of it -- boy bands, rock bands, alternative singers, Broadway musicals, top 40 hits, country, etc. -- and I hadn't ever really heard of anything quite like Mumford. They were folksy, but poignant. They were spiritual, but not Christian. They were deep and soulful without really trying too hard to be.
The reason that I fell in love with this band and the reason why I am so enamored by Babel is because Mumford and Sons filled a void in my musical repertoire that I didn't even know was missing. Their songs made me think. Their music made me dance and sway. Their lyrics were poetic. And that's what music is, really, at its core: music is poetry and prose. I'm not a songwriter but I can understand that, as a storyteller. Country music is prose -- country music tells stories constantly. Stories about families. Stories about silly things like tractors and parties and summertime. Stories about love and stories about being cheated on. Stories about drinking and laughing. Good country music is a narrative.
But folk music is poetry. Folk music contains images and allusions. It fills your soul, not just your heart, with words and memories and feelings. And yes, sometimes it tells the story of a man and a woman. Sometimes it tells the story of a lonely, wandering soul. But more often than not, folk music is the music that you use to evoke images and emotions, not to string together a cohesive narrative. A lot of music is prose but a lot of it -- the really, really good kind -- is poetry. Sigh No More and Babel are Mumford and Sons at their core: albums full of spiritual imagery, snapshots of redemption and grace, of love and loss. And now, with Mumford's recently released new album Wilder Mind, I thought I would take the time to discuss the band's musicality and lyricism on their newest -- and very different -- album.
