Mumford & Sons
Sigh No More (2009)
Folk music has a history that stretches back further than most other musical genres. It's gone through a number of shifts and revivals in the last fifty years especially, the latest of which is the 'indie folk' scene. While I don't mind some 'indie folk' (I'm quite partial to the work of Blitzen Trapper, for example, though they are more indie and less folk) it really does consist of bohemian-dressed peeps with hippie haircuts churning out mildly depressing acoustic tales of woe, a far cry from even the Sixties Revival led by the likes of Bob Dylan, The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
Mumford and Sons, for the three people in the world who haven't heard them yet, are an English quartet fronted by noted Stephen Fry lookalike Marcus Mumford. Sigh No More, their debut, came out in 2009 and exploded in popularity, mainly because of the song Little Lion Man. No surprise to see that they are on the front cover, looking bohemian (and I can confirm that when they play live, they also dress like that.)
It's Part Four of Albums Picked By My Wife.....and I don't think she's going to like me when she reads it.
The Album
Heavy on the banjo, bass drum and acoustic guitars, Sigh No More contains a quaintly American feel to its English sensibilities. The lyrics are flecked with Shakespearean references and peculiarly English whimsy at times, yet hammering away is the unmistakeable twang of the banjo underneath. It's an odd contrast. The band also employ the use of large sounding vocal harmony sections, and if I'm honest, they are far and away the best part of this album overall. As a vocal troupe they are incredible, and Mumford's lead vocal swings between a gently croaking lilt and a gruff explosion of passion and pain.
What is unfortunate is that many of the songs themselves are somewhat trite and cheesy. Folk music, at its very best, tells stories of struggle, hope and persecution; it represents the downtrodden using fine metaphor and allegory. Don't expect that too often on Sigh No More, because most of the songs feature lyrics that wouldn't be out of place on a Backstreet Boys album. I counted the word 'heart' 49 times - I think we get the picture, lads, and I think we can see who you're really trying to sell records to. It's disappointing, because there's enough here musically to like, apart from the vocals; the band are also adept at building feeling through the music, as well as those gradual growths in intensity that often culminate in crashing crescendos.
The best song on this album does tell something of a story though. Dust Bowl Dance is told from the perspective of a young man whose farming father has died, and through the nefarious acts of another has lost his land....and in true troubadour fashion, the song details his anger, the furious confrontation and the fatal, murderous acts of the righteous and enraged. It's a great lyric matched with a steadily building musical arrangement (which features some booming drums played by the talented Mumford) symbolising the protagonist's path to action. Thistle And Weeds doesn't really tell a story but it's a great metaphor for generally not being a dick, and apart from the walking chord progression in the middle that has been ripped off from The Kinks' Sunny Afternoon, it's a majestic tune. Towards the end, after a fairly quiet beginning and middle, a rollicking piano line begins and the song, as so many other do, builds to a huge climax (as does Mumford's superb vocal). I'll also give an honourable mention to Timshel, where the music is really low in the mix, bringing those fantastic vocal harmonies to the fore, and Sigh No More, which opens with more great vocal work, before giving way to a stomping acoustic guitar riff and matching fingerpicked banjo work.
Hard to find too much to get enthused about after that, though. The Cave has its moments, namely its very delicious picked main riff. I Gave You All and Awake My Soul feature more great vocal work, but bog-standard lyrics. Winter Winds also has some great little moments - the horn section and strings, when the song kicks into its most intense section, are evocative of some Irish/Celtic folk bands and are genuinely energising...but again, its fairly bland, high-school poetry lyric is annoying.
And then....there's that song. The one about the lion man. Little Lion Man is one of the most overhyped, overplayed and overrated songs of this century. Why? All it has going for it are a catchy chorus and a swear word. That's it. (Mind you, I did appreciate the line, Your grace is wasted in your face as a terrific use of assonance.) It is, for all intents and purposes, a cheesy, throwaway pop song. That it was voted number 1 in a Hottest 100 is a travesty, because it's not even the best song on the album it was on. In fact, if it were not for the lamentable After the Storm, it would be the worst.
The Verdict
Sigh No More is, musically, pretty good. The four are very good musicians and splendidly gifted singers. Lyrically and thematically though it's bland and uninteresting, treading over tired, all too frequently revisited ground, which is not what folk music is about.
At least, it's not what good folk music is about.
There are some songs here that I would recommend as a listen. They pretty much aren't the singles, though, because the singles, by and large, are the biggest culprits of the cheesy woe-is-my-heart tale. The album tracks though are very, very good.
And fuck Little Lion Man.
My rating: ***
Standout Tracks
Dust Bowl Dance
Thistle and Weeds
Sigh No More
Tomorrow, Part 1 of the EPIC CONTEST BETWEEN BLUR AND OASIS!
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