Mumford & Sons, “Wilder Mind” (Glassnote)
This is the sound of music pulled up by its roots.
Faux folkies Mumford & Sons were amusing at first, a string band on steroids with sufficient pluck to inspire a banjo revival. But the band that led an analog movement has morphed into digital Coldplay impersonators.
And they’re not that good at it. “Wilder Mind” is a sorely misleading title, because the 12-song set is full of tame, mindless, bland-band pop.
In pursuit of arena aspirations, Mumford & Sons dispensed with their banjo, Dobro and standup bass. Instead, producer James Ford (Florence & The Machine, Arctic Monkeys, HAIM) has singer Marcus Mumford backed by thunderous drums and the wash of watery synthesizers.
Best is “Cold Arms,” where a single guitar is the only instrument, and “Broad-Shouldered Beasts,” which also benefits from a relatively sparse arrangement. But both songs come late in the set, and others seem generated from a not-OK computer.
Mumford sings about relationships that sizzle or fizzle, and like the percussion, the lyrics land with a thud. “Yours is the face which makes my body burn,” goes one line that not even a banjo could save.
