Mumford and Sons have finally realised that they’re the worst band in the world. However, they seem determined to change that with a dramatic change of style on their new LP.
The band have moved on from their sheer torturing of the folk/country genre, in pursuit of ‘rock legends’ status. Sure, Marcus Mumford still has the same unfortunate voicebox, but they’ve finally ditched the banjo, hurrah! As a result, this album is nowhere near as annoying as the first two. The band have taken to the electric guitar much better than expected and produced some not-too-shabby riffs, particularly in the album’s first half.
Then again, there’s nothing on here that provokes a ‘wow’. Yes, there a few interesting musical elements like the drum beat on ‘Monster’, but overall everything on this album feels borrowed. It’s a generic rock album at best. You could get the exact same thing from Kings of Leon’s last few albums, except KOL are better. In all, the best thing about this album is that there’s no frustrating repetitiveness of ‘I Will Wait’ and no absolute cringe of ‘Winter Winds’. What we have with ‘Wilder Mind’ is a very middle-of-the-road rock album – perfect as background music for a family meal; easy listening with no real unique edge.
[Sorley Mclean – @sorleymclean]
qmunicatemagazine.com 