4/5
Mumford's The Word
Click...click...spark! It's just almost marching to the time last year when 'Rushmere' was here, yet best of British folk rockers Mumford & Sons already have another album out this New Music Friday. And this killer is a 'Prizefighter', with a lighter of album artwork, after the group have been through it all, solo albums and controversial bandmate departures, and then some. Beautifully they 'Begin Again' with some of their best work since they wanted us to 'Believe' in their Dylan like electric turn. Fellow the U.K's own Labrinth, J. Cole's last album, Jill Scott's grand return. The last month of this brand-new year is already giving us some of the biggest releases of the calendar. And this one doesn't pull any punches.
Coming out of the corner with the album titled single, a 'Rubber Band Man', like T.I., and 'The Banjo Song'. It just feels like old times for the amazing act again. The beautiful 'Banjo' video featuring a Streets Of Soul casting of people from club nights in Bristol. Soul telling us, "these are the dancers that always brighten up our dancefloors, the ones that love to dance. We brought them together with their different styles, energy and flair. We saw how quickly they all became one... Their differences became their joy and connection." Now, that's the gold like the ZIPPO on this CD's cover. Snapping back to the 'Rubber Band', not only is this song penned by a top artist, hitmaker Brandi Carlile, it also features the great Hozier, no stranger to unearthing folk album after folk album himself. It's the perfect collaboration made in iron and wine heaven as Marcus Mumford sings, "You're a world away/But you're still the same/I know by your heart/I will call you by your name/And it's a long way/From the crack to the break/You know that I remember everything."
The compelling collaborations don't end 'Here' for a band who are travelling all over the Delta, see the opening track with country strong star Chris Stapleton. The American dream for one of Obama's favourite bands continues on the Gigi Perez assisted 'Icarus' ("It took me all I had/To turn away from this one/Thought I'd take my chances/I was blinded, I was young/But then all at once/I was back to where I'd begun/I was burned by the morning/I got too close to the sun") that flies close to the Floridian sun. Whilst Taylor Swift co hitmaker Gracie Abrams heads into the Bruce Springsteen like 'Badlands' with this band, singing "Set myself up to become a man/Who wasn't there for the backhand/Getaway car in the quicksand/I think you may never understand." Yet despite the American apparel, this still feels fondly familiar to Mumford and all those sons. And despite the big budget guest features, it's still one of the band's most personal projects to date. The gangsters and angels of 'Conversation With My Son', for all the Cat Stevens father and sons, could even find itself on the new 'Immortal Man' of a 'Peaky Blinders' movie in-between Cillian Murphy and Barry Keoghan's Shelby's.
Oh, and if that wasn't enough, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon wrote both 'Badlands' and the 'Prizefighter' title-track. Whereas Billie Eilish's very own brother and new age Bernie Taupin, Finneas had the song 'Run Together' in his back pocket. Stalking like an 'Alleycat', this is still a Marcus Mumford, Ben Lovett, Ted Dwane, and Aaron Dessner written affair, however, at their New York Long Pond studio home. This Gentleman of the Road, Island record plays for tracks that are keeps. The only tick missed, like last March's release, is that this band feels like a fall favourite, driving that notion home, like Christmas (rest peacefully, Mr. Rea). On the sweet 'Stay', like this band seem determined to do, Marcus carries on serenading us, like he does Carey Mulligan. Bleeding hearts of crimson all the way to the 'Clover' closer. But before he tells you everything, it's the 'Shadow Of A Man' that really resonates, his hand shaking as he writes these lines, "Old town behind us/I used to fly/Pour yourself a drink/That's when I slide/Always looking for another way out/Never just at ease/When everybody settles down to revel/That's when I have to leave." This fighter will floor you. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Playlist Picks: 'Rubber Band Man (Feat. Hozier)', 'Conversation With My Son (Gangsters & Angels)', 'Begin Again'.
Spin This: Mumford & Sons - 'Rushmere'
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