Review: Mumford and Sons – Prizefighter

On sixth album 'Prizefighter', the indie folk trio are keen to escape their customary foot-stomping sound with a welcomed maturity, less rabble-rousing and more elegant. 

Mumford & Sons are the kind of marmite band as loved as they are scorned. The posh boy cosplaying criticisms have long remained, but who can deny the popularity of their rousing, Countrified style.

With debut Sigh No More (2009) exploding them to international stardom and single ‘Little Lion Man’ feeling inescapable by the early 2010s, Mumford & Sons were very quickly catapulted to household and festival headline status.

On sixth album Prizefighter, they are keen to escape their customary foot-stomping sound. And, in truth, they are all the better for it. There’s welcomed maturity here: an intricate indie-folk record less rabble-rousing, more vulnerable and elegant in production. 

One of the main reasons for this, of course, is producer Aaron Dressner. Prizefighter was recorded at Dressner’s Long Pond studio in Upper State New York and The National man brings a winning brush of warmth and atmospheric layering to proceedings. 

Adding to this is an ensemble cast who keep things fresh throughout (a third of these tracks have feature appearances). On opener ‘Here’, legendary singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton brings the kind of Country authenticity many had criticised the band for lacking in the first place.

‘Rubber Band Man’ is then like a millennial music fan’s wet dream - Marcus Mumford and Irish singer Hozier gorgeously bouncing off one another in vocal duties. Its sublime and chest-pumping, the harmonies rich and the chorus soaring. Elsewhere, vocal appearances by Gigi Perez on ‘Icarus’ and Gracie Abrams on ‘Badlands’ offer a more diverse, female perspective while luring in the Gen Z generation. 

Many of the tracks without guests aren’t half bad either. ‘The Banjo Song’ sounds bittersweet and earnest. The banjos ironically less triumphant than what you’d expect while soundtracking Marcus’ confessional lyrics: “And, hey/ I’m a mess myself but I think I could be someone/ If you need someone.” Meanwhile, an acoustic guitar gorgeously plucks against Marcus’ poignant lyricism on ‘Prizefighter’ for another record stand out.

Altogether, Prizefighter sounds uplifting, intricate, subdued. So, despite the band being defined by their early anthems, this record reveals the trio’s song-writing progression in the years since. Maybe it’s time the music snobs began taking them more seriously.

8/10