“Babel,” the follow up album to “Sigh No More,” has skyrocketed Mumford & Sons to the top of the Billboard charts. With 600,000 copies sold in the first week and a comfortable position at the top of the charts, the four-piece folk rock group seems to have delivered a stunning LP.
Marcus Mumford and company has delved further into the ominous folklore spirit but has added a religious undertone that can be either aesthetically beneficial or repulsive to audiences. True Mumford & Sons fans will find solace in the creative decision. In the end, it’s not at all a surprising decision considering Marcus Mumford grew up around Evangelicals. “Rolling Stone” said of the religious undertone, “Where Rick Ross slings church flavor to add levity to street tales, Mumford uses it to supersize and complicate love songs.”
This is not to say that Mumford & Sons have departed from their riveting and memorable productions. Instead, they’ve attached folk rock instrumentation to supplement the deep, inward reflections of Marcus Mumford. So if you’re a fan of instant classics like “Little Lion Man” or “The Cave” you’ll feel right at home with the group’s latest album. If you’re just not into it from one listen, give the album a few more plays and let it grow on you.
While it may initially send secular listeners running for the fences, the album and its creative decisions are best understood not by scrolling through random tracks but rather by studying its story from start to finish.
Stream the album now, via Spotify.