If you’re a Mumford and Sons fan like myself, you may remember when the band made an upsetting announcement in September of 2013. Keyboardist Ben Lovett told Rolling Stone, “There won’t be any Mumford & Sons activities for the foreseeable future following Friday’s show,” which was the last of their tour for the album “Babel” released in 2012. Bass player Ted Dwayne was undergoing some serious medical issues, and the group wanted to take time off to enjoy being home in London for a while after living such a fast paced lifestyle since “Sigh No More” in 2009. Rumors of the band breaking up were swelling around also. Well, little did we all know this hiatus would last about three months before the band jumped back into the studio to record another album. I recently found this out myself, when they announced that their third album “Wilder Mind” is being released May 4th of this year.
So, now that we know that this album is recorded and on its way to us, we’re of course wondering how it will sound. Mumford’s past two albums “Sigh No More” and “Babel” were done with their easily recognizable acoustic sound, but this one would be different. The band opened up to Rolling Stone recently and told them that “Wilder Mind” leaves behind the banjos and kick drums for an electronic sound. Banjo player “Country Winston” as he’s called replaced the banjo with an electric guitar, and synths, mellotrons and drum machines were used to record as well. The four-member band even added a drummer to their tour group, which they’ve never had before.
What?! Mumford and Sons is going electronic?! I know, that’s the reaction I had too. Personally, I love them for their acoustic folk sound, but I will give this a shot. They are great musicians and I’m sure they can pull it off. Marcus Mumford told Rolling Stone, “We felt that doing the same thing, or the same instrumentation again, just wasn’t for us. We’ve got a broader taste in music than just that.”
While their full 12-track album is being released May 4th, the band released a single “Believe” from the album early this month giving us a sneak preview of their new sound. Listen to “Believe” below, and stay posted on their tour, as they will be announcing more US stopover dates during their Gentlemen of the Road tour around the world.