If you ever end up on Jeopardy and your category is British Bands, just remember that if a question is what band originated with four members in West London in 2008, your answer is Mumford & Sons. Ever since Marcus Mumford, Ben Lovett, Winston Marshall, and Ted Dwane became Mumford & Sons, they have become a headlining, Grammy-winning, chart-topping success story. Now, just nine months after the release of RUSHMERE, the band released their sixth album, Prizefighter.
Noun: a professional boxer who competes in matches for money prizes
Music brings people together, and ever since I can remember, Mumford & Sons has been a band that my dad and I have shared. When I was younger, and all I had was an iPod with a very limited music library, Mumford & Sons were on the shelf. If not playing in my headphones, “Little Lion Man”, “I Will Wait”, and “The Cave” were playing in car rides. This February, Prizefighter was released while I was abroad. For me, it was a very timely drop because I was on a trip to the band’s origin city, London.
This album, while staying true to the band’s sound, is a new branch on the tree the band has cultivated. Beginning in 2018, the band took a brief pause, which ended with the release of RUSHMERE in 2025. Prizefighter is the second album without former band member and banjo player Winston Marshall, who left the band in 2021.
Beginning Again with their music, this album is an exciting new resurgence for the band. Once again, Mumford & Sons prove they can remain standing in the ring, with fourteen new songs and collaborations on Prizefighter.
“Here” (with Chris Stapleton)
Opening the album with a collaboration with Chris Stapleton, Mumford & Sons don’t sugarcoat anything. The song reveals to the listener that mistakes have been made and lies have been told. Here’s my… Here’s a… Here’s the repeat throughout the track, offering a list of things that the singers present. However, we don’t know exactly what’s been lied about, what the substance they crave is, or what answers he was supposed to give.
This vagueness is a beautiful choice that can be better understood through the bridge. Can you hold all my secrets? Can we swear that we can forget? I had lies like you wouldn’t believe. Brought to my knees. It becomes clear within this section that this is a one-sided conversation between two people that the listener is being let in on. While the speaker allows us to know that a disconnect has happened, the specificities of the reality are left between the conversers.
“Rubber Band Man” (with Hozier)
If you were to ask my dad what his favorite song off the album was, or even just generally, he’s going to respond that it’s “Rubber Band Man”. Released ahead of the album, “Rubber Band Man” gave some insight into what the sound of the album was going to be. Collaborating with Hozier, this emotional song is reminiscent of their previous albums.
The concept of being a rubber band man is not to hold to yourself/ With hard mortar and stone. Rather, make the water your bones. The bridge is where Mumford & Sons get you. It’s a long way/ From the crack to the break/ You know I remember everything/ You know it breaks my heart. This song reflects on a past relationship that fell apart because of someone’s inability to adapt; now they can look back and realize how they needed to change. The rest of the album is the singer beginning to reconcile with the issues that they’ve had and what they’re doing to change.
Sometimes, no matter how far you may get from someone you were once close to, you may always be there when they need you. This message that “The Banjo Song” sends is one that I relate to; And wait, did you call? Did you fall?/ Do you need someone? Do you need someone?/ And hey, I’m a mess myself but I think I can be someone if you need someone. This song beautifully captures the all too familiar feeling of wanting to help someone, even when you may be someone who needs help too.
A theme across Mumford & Sons’ discography is camaraderie. “Run Together” feels similar to “I Will Wait” in the way that, as the instrumentals build, the lyrics do the same. But when we run, we run together/ When we’re apart, we fall apart/ I am yours, and yours, and ever/ Can we start? There is sometimes more strength in being together than apart, and here Mumford & Sons are looking for the strength to run.
“Conversations With My Son (Gangsters & Angels)”
There has recently been a surge of artists who have become fathers and who have shifted their lyrics to reflect their new realities. A father himself, Marcus Mumford, sings on this album about how kids have questions that he isn’t sure if he is ready to answer. The world, with its gangsters and angels, tumblers and beggars, can be so much to explain for a child. But love your crooked neighbor/ With your crooked heart, is a message that, in some way, we all have unpleasant sides to us, but it’s something that we all share.
“Alleycat” is in my top 10 Mumford & Sons songs. If anything speaks to the album’s concept of a prizefighter, it’s this song. There’s so much nuance to this track, with references to Greek mythology, the previous track — “Conversations With My Son (Gangsters & Angels)” —, and simpler times; this song shows the evolution of who the speaker is as a person.
One of my favorite elements of this album is how many questions are posed within the songs. A repeating call and response in the song is, Is this all there is?/ What do you mean? Is this not enough for you? Here, it seems that one of the speakers clashes with the alleycat traits of the other. I’m still an alleycat, drink from the tap/ Creosote creep through the fence and under/ Any window pane, I’m quick and light. This is a reference that will be brought up again in the album, in order to explain how he is willing to mold another person’s personality.
The title track. “Prizefighter” tracks back to some beginning of the band and where they still seem to be. The bar we ruled, those Soho nights/ You move on but I stay put/ I stay put/ I stay put. Although there is so much they have accomplished over the years, there still remain the memories of the past. However, as Mumford sings, I don’t look back ‘cause I’m still here/ Still swinging high at the borderline. The Borderline was a bar where the band began playing, and even all these years later, they can’t seem to let it go. Was there a sense of wild freedom that they once had that they no longer have? Maybe, but either way, the band nods to how small beginnings are sometimes the largest start.
Heading into my spring break, I needed a new beginning, and let’s just say a few tears were shed when I heard this song. There’s so much baggage that is packed with the passage of time, and this song reminds us that sometimes there’s a need to shed it.
As someone who needed to open a new door, I interpreted the questions within the song as the speaker asking themself these questions. Can we undo the folded lies that mean love has left this place?/ How did we lose our way?/ I swear there’s another way. I do believe that there is always another way, even if it’s in another place, to begin again.
There isn’t one feature that doesn’t fit on this album. The stripped strumming at the start of the song that eventually leads to the building of vocals and instrumentals perfectly captures the essence of Icarus’s story flipped in a modern context.
Gigi Perez is introduced on the track with a line beginning with, she said, and letting her fill in the dialogue. To me, this was a genius choice because, although many mythological stories are written, storytelling is an oral art. To have a dialogue within a modern song of soaring rather than falling, Icarus was a thoughtful choice that reflects the reality of the singer.
Although “Stay” is a compilation of a number of previous songs on the album, I have the least to say about it. It feels almost chant-like, with the same long chorus repeating multiple times within the three-minute song. Here, he reiterates for the person he wants to stay that there is a place for them, and if they choose to stay, he will too.
“Badlands” (with Gracie Abrams)
My 2026 Bingo card did not predict a collaboration between Gracie Abrams and Mumford & Sons, but hearing “Badlands” I was pleasantly surprised. Her voice pairs well with the band’s style, giving the song complexity and depth. Thematically, across the album exists the concept of running and building oneself back up again. In the beginning, they establish that people say they were born wild, and the rest of the song is them reclaiming this title as they escape from low tides, quicksand, and tame lives.
Remaining in the same vein of reclaiming a wild side, “Shadow of A Man” expresses the band’s desire to run as soon as they feel they’re becoming tame. But I’ve been holding on to everything as tightly as I can/ Oh my God, I’m just a shadow of a man. The artist realizes that they have become passive in their lives as they remain in the same place. Despite wanting to leave, they seek guidance as to what to do as they realize they don’t have control over what they’ve become.
The penultimate song on the album, “I’ll Tell You Everything” calls back to the lies told and secrets kept in the beginning of the album. Nodding once again to mythology, he describes how he returns like a broken Mercury/ and then I’m wings on your feet. A character known for his tricks, this reference further complicates the wild side he has. This song however, is vulnerable and feels true, revealing that he will in fact, tell you everything.
This is one of the most comforting songs I’ve ever heard. Here, he resigns to the fact that he is remaining in one place, letting someone see him in his entirety. Following the initial chorus, he references “Alleycat”, calling the person he is speaking to a farm cat. Although another feral outdoor cat, farm cats are ones that protect their home and the animals or people in it. At the end of the day, when I’m broken or beat/ Here, I am complete/ With these sets of eyes on me/ The chase is over, I am done.
The chase is over, and I am done. From embracing a wild side to adding flaws, the tracks on this album show the depth and range of lyrical and instrumental skills the band has developed over the years. The questions posed, clever nuances, and collaborations make Prizefighter a special addition to Mumford & Sons’ discography.