Released: September 25, 2012
I should mention that I am completely obsessed with Mumford & Sons. I don’t often admit to this when attempting to review an album because it gives away to my bias opinion. But it needs to be stated that I think beyond being one of the most genuine, and gracious group of lads I have ever had the experience of seeing live, they adeptly tell stories pulling out emotions you didn’t think you had in you. It is obvious that these men are wholly involved in the music they are creating.
Babel, the follow up to Mumfords 2009 album Sigh No More shows the success the band has acquired in the last three years. Mumford & Sons, thankfully, did not change their sound during this time. Babel is an album fit for a large stadium. It is filled with a more skillful build, grandeur and diverse instrumental amalgamation.
Babel borrowed its name from the Hebrew, Tower of Babel found in the Book of Genesis. The story behind the Tower of Babel is basically the story telling of city members joining together to build a tower to heaven. The end of the story says that God came down from Heaven and scattered the people around the world and created languages so they could not all understand one another. I don’t completely understand the story. From what I do understand the moral would be something along the lines of “don’t try to put yourself on the same level as God”.
It is almost ironic that Mumford and Sons would choose to name their story Babel. Mumford has never had a problem telling a story. Folk tales were never told so evocatively. The band is not shy in religious references with an overwhelming questioning and challenging God. This is most apparent on the album opener also titled ‘Babel’. It is the modern retelling of the Tower of Babel from the perspective of the confused city member. Ultimately sounding like a song of rebellion.
I’ve noticed that a lot of music reviewers have faulted the band for nary straying from their core style. This I think is ridiculous. It confirms that what you are hearing on Babel is authentic Mumford. They are true to who they are, and are not going to change the way they write their songs based on what they think will sell. Babel is more high energy with the majority of the songs playing in the same fashion. It is too difficult to consider this a fault because the build is far too breathtaking. The majority of tracks start off with Marcus singing over acoustic guitar then leading into a tremendous climb into an all consuming howl matched with banjo, keys, trumpet, bass… and honestly whatever other instrument you can think of.
‘I Will Wait’, the first single, is similar to Sigh No More’s ‘The Cave’ but perfected. The song makes up for it’s lyrical simplicity in the hammering out of the chorus. For a repetitive song it remains a powerful one. The band has been playing ‘Below My Feet’ for years giving it time to saturate the bands growth. It is probably the most exemplary song off Babel given its ability to carefully explore all the elements that are Mumford & Sons. It is a song of compassion and one most people can relate to. Hearing the song for the first time in 2011, unperfected under a dry Tennessee sun, soaked in sweat with grime caked into every crevice of my body I remember being moved to the point of tears. It is that powerful.
Though Mumford & Sons have left themselves with plenty of room to grow, Babel is an organic representation of the bands songwriting, and musical capacity. While it may play as the B side of Sigh No More there is no doubting its greatness. I can never get enough of Mumford & Sons British take on Americana, their folk grandeur.
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