Mumford & Sons Prizefighter Shows What The World Needs Now Is More Banjo.
Mumford & Sons new album, Prizefighter, is a knockout.
This record does more in the first 3 songs than most albums do in their entirety. It never hurts to start with a Chris Stapleton collab, and “Here” is an all-time opener.
The duets continue with Hozier joining Mumford & Sons for the second track, “Rubber Band Man,” which has already found enough traction to creep into Mumford’s Spotify most played list and rack up 2.5 million views on YouTube.
But it’s song #3, “The Banjo Song” that is the biggest reminder that what the world needs right now, is more Mumford & Sons. This was the first song someone texted me sheepishly from Spotify, as if to say, “I know this might seem weird. But you need to listen to this new Mumford & Sons’ song.” It doesn’t hurt that the album art for Prizefighter with the open lighter couldn’t be more iconic, promising a great song to my eyes before my ears even listened.
“The Banjo Song” delivered. It’s everything Mumford & Sons is and ever was. Turns out Mumford & Sons didn’t change; we did. And Prizefighter makes us wonder if maybe we shouldn’t have.
Maybe things were just better 15 years ago when The Social Network was a movie in theaters not a phenomenon capable of ruining almost everything. Back when hipsters were moving to Brooklyn with their beards and beanies. Breweries had just started popping up, and Mumford & Sons were on top of the world.
Part of the reason it’s weird to be excited about new Mumford & Sons music, is that the band’s entire ethos is about being authentic and old. Mumford & Sons was the band with the banjos, known for their working-on-the-railroad aesthetic.
Mumford & Sons were a very specific big deal for a couple years around 2010-2012. And then, like anything that gets too popular too quickly—the world moved on.
It didn’t matter that Mumford & Sons gave us epic songs that resonated around the world including “Little Lion Man,” “The Cave,” and “I Will Wait.” It didn’t matter that Marcus Mumford by all accounts was a genius musician. It didn’t matter that Mumford & Sons were an amazing live band initially propelled by a banjo heavy performance of “The Cave” at the Grammy Awards.
A lot has changed since 2010. Artificial Intelligence promises to be hundreds of times more disruptive than the Internet ever was, we seem to always be on the verge of World War 3, and the world is all living heads down staring at their phones in their own media bubbles.
Mumford & Sons’ new record Prizefighter is seemingly oblivious to these changes. And it feels good. It feels good to have your feet on the ground, and your hands in the dirt again. While the start of Prizefighter is loaded with the sort of songs you’ll want to text links to your friends, the singles that will sound best on your morning commute—the entire record is excellent. Prizefighter is a true album, 14 songs spread across a mere 49 minutes, and it all hangs together.
Prizefighter is filled with songs that will sound better and bigger live including “Begin Again,” the sort of music that makes you wish you were wearing war paint. At their best, Mumford & Sons music is epic and cinematic. It makes you want to grab the sides of someone’s face and scream, “I will find you!” Grand, real, and big . . .Mohican music. The likes of wish isn’t made much anymore.
Prizefighter is designed to make you feel. Check the 3:30 mark of “Conversation With My Son,” if you have any doubts. The sort of music that makes you feel like you’re in a movie, running back to the girl, in the rain as the bridge begins . . .
Here’s where heaven starts. I end where you begin, with my hand over your heart.
The back end of Prizefighter has a lot more pandemic era melancholy. Songs that will make you feel sad and cozy like Taylor Swift just handed you a cardigan and a N95 mask, or Bon Iver put a bandana over his face.
Prizefighter is a reminder that Mumford & Sons is what the world needs today. A band with blood flow, in a world with none. I’d encourage you to cut yourself open and feel again with Mumford & Sons Prizefighter. Oh, and they’re on Saturday Night Live this weekend with Connor Storrie from Heated Rivalry. With apologies to Chrisopher Walken, I’m sure the band’s two live performances on SNL will be yet another reminder what the world needs now is more banjo . . .not cowbell.
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