![]() ![]() To say the least I was simply hypnotised by their set. I found Mumford & Sons when they performed at the 2011 Grammys with the equally amazing Avett Brothers and the legendary Bob Dylan. Mumford & Sons are a breath of fresh air to the music industry, bringing with them a new age of folk music for all to enjoy. I believe that the true brilliance of Mumford & Sons is their ability to turn words and notes into a masterpiece that evokes an array of mixed emotions from the listener from the upbeat, fast riffed tracks like Roll Away Your Stone to the harmonic folk ballads of Awake My Soul. Their haunting yet beautiful melodic harmonies are bewitching, sending a spell of pure ecstasy throughout your whole body when you listen to their extremely talented music. Having discovered Mumford & Sons early on before the incredible and speedy rise to worldwide fame, I was immediately a big fan. And, I suppose, their music's not too shabby either. ![]() Their patience, however, never grew thin and for that I'll always be grateful. Which of course I did almost immediately. I felt like Edmund in front of Aslan – forgiven and resolved to never let them down. To my surprise they were very understanding, probably recognising that they were in part to blame given the frankly ridiculous level of responsibility they'd heaped on my shoulders so early on. "You plonker!" I muttered to myself repeatedly and into a tear stained pillow "PLONKER! PLONKER! PLONKER!" After crying and reciting these words of penitence all morning I finally plucked up the courage to tell the lads what I'd done. ![]() So I bought a waist coat, a petrol station discount copy of Bob Dylan's greatest hits and tried to get by undetected.įour days into "tour" I awoke in Denmark to discover I'd left £5,000 worth of T-shirts in Sweden. The last CD I'd bought was, I think, Aqualung's Dr Jones which – though a great tune – did leave me feeling somewhat lacking when it came to touring with an actual band that played their own instruments and sang Shakespeare 'n' stuff. "It'll be easy" said Marcus – but it was way out of my league and I knew it. A few years later and after months of unemployment and crying I was asked to come along and sell merchandise for the band in Europe and America T-shirts, CDs, vinyl and so on. "Think I'll stick to my history degree thanks!" It goes without saying that I now regret the arrogant assumption implied by these thoughts.Īnyway. "Good luck with that one pal!" I said to myself snidely. Marcus and I were at Edinburgh together before he packed in his studies to pursue music. I used to tour with Mumford & Sons if you must know. More importantly, their music communicates a message, deeply sincere and personal, and not weakened by popularity, which makes it some of the most inspirational music of the 21st century. Yet, their revamped version of folk has successfully challenged the received ideas of what popular music should sound like. Such intimately personal verses had healing properties in a way that no medicine that the NHS provided did.Įven with Marcus's robust, rousing choruses, Mumford & Sons' music seemed to me at first too intelligent and intimate to be played on mainstream radio. Those powerful, triumphant lyrics became commandments in my slow recovery. They sung about complex themes, from the giddy reaches of love, courage, and bravery, to the crushing depths of guilt, religious doubt, and loss, embodying a spectrum of human emotions from anger to lust, desire to despair. Not only did their music provide an escape, but their lyrics were brave and beautiful, and affected me deeply. I felt that Mumford & Sons were helping to refurbish folk music, a genre that for too long had been confined to country pubs and dusty record collections. Their music was passionate, engaging and exciting, so incredibly unlike the music in the charts. Listening to their uplifting and exulting music provided me with an escape from the monotony of exhaustion. However, soon after first hearing them I became ill with ME/ CFS and was virtually bed-bound for several months. Back then I didn't expect a little known London folk band to become so big, or to make such an impression on me. I first heard Mumford & Sons' Sigh No More album in 2009 before they were well known, as a friend from university went to the same school as Marcus Mumford and Ben Lovett. ![]()
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