Mumford & Sons wins again

Mumford & Sons (M&S) kept up its award-winning streak by bagging the Brit Award for Best British Group show at the 2013 Brit Music Awards. The most special night in British pop music and the UK counterpart of the US Grammys was held at the O2 Arena in London last Feb. 20. It was another proof that the indie folk rock band is indeed deserving of all the accolades it has lately been getting for the masterful work that went into the album Babel. Incidentally, M&S also bagged the Brit Album of the Year for its debut Sigh No More in 2012.

As most pop music fans surely know, M&S’s Babel was the winner of the Album of the Year Award at the recent Grammys. Though Sigh No More was also a big hit, it was Babel that really got the world interested in Mumford & Sons and its unique type of alternative pop music. The band is made up of Marcus Mumford on lead vocals, guitars, drums and mandolin; Country Winston,  vocals, banjo, dobro and electric guitar; Ben Lovett, vocals, keyboards, accordion, drums and electric guitar; and Ted Dwane, vocals, double bass, drums and guitars. All of them are in their 20s and very talented.

They became friends while playing with various bands in London. It was then that they discovered their common love for bluegrass and folk music and when they decided to form a group. Mumford & Sons was born in December, 2007. I do not think it was difficult for them to come up with their own kind of sound at all. M&S music is a mix of the kind of music they like, of the music they heard and doubtless performed around London and their abilities as songwriters and multi-instrumentalists. It is alternative rock laced with folk and bluegrass.

The formula worked well from the start. Mumford & Sons music has all the elements of good British pop. The writing, often with references to the Bible, Shakespeare, St. Francis of Assisi and other literary greats, is excellent. The hook-laden melodies are pretty and their lyrics passionate.  There is also this great sense of camaraderie among the members of the band, who obviously love what they are doing. 

And then there are the extras that I believe greatly contribute to the band’s success. There is a folksy atmosphere brought on by their use of traditional folk instruments like the accordion, dobro and the mandolin and the virile singing style of these young men. There is no question that they are confident about their music and they are having fun performing their songs. These are deeply felt by the listener. 

The early recordings, done in a home studio and released independently, sold well. That is why M&S is still often referred to as an indie folk band. The tours were also well-received. Barely two years after their initial gigs, they were already working with Arcade Fire and Bjork producer Markus Dravs who got them working instinctively and sounding like themselves. The result of that collaboration was Sigh No More with the hits Little Lion Man, Winter Winds, The Cave, Roll Away Your Stone and the divine After The Storm. Mumford & Sons was on its way to stardom.

Babel, which is now the No. 1 selling album in the US, has one strong song after another. No sophomore slump for these guys. They only got better. Best of the lot are the galloping single I Will Wait, Lover Of The Light, Ghosts That We Knew and the anthemic Lovers’ Eyes. And those of you out there who doubt the band’s capacity to take oldies and make them their own should listen to their version of The Boxer. Songwriter Paul Simon heartily showed his approval. He even agreed to join the recording.

Back to the Brits. Also among this year’s winners are:  Single of the Year, Skyfall by Adele; British Album of the Year, Our Version of Events by Emeli Sande; British Live Act, Coldplay; British Female Solo Artist, Emeli Sande; British Male Solo Artist, Ben Howard; Producer of the Year, Paul Epworth, producer and co-writer of Skyfall; Critics Choice Award, Tom Odell of the album Songs From Another Love; Breakthrough Act, Ben Howard of the album Every Kingdom; Global Success, One Direction. International Male Solo Artist, Frank Ocean; International Female Solo Artist, Lana del Rey; and International Group, The Black Keys.