Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More

Artist:

Mumford & Sons

UPC:

892038002237

Description:

Personnel: Duchess Nell Catchpole (violin, viola); Christopher Allan (cello); Nick Etwell (trumpet, flugelhorn); Pete Beachill (trombone).
Audio Mixer: Ruadhri Cushnan.
Recording information: Eastcote Studios, London.
Photographer: Max Knight .
Arranger: Mumford & Sons.
English folk outfit Mumford & Sons` full-length debut owes more than a cursory nod to bands like the Waterboys, the Pogues, and the Men They Couldn`t Hang. The group`s heady blend of biblical imagery, pastoral introspection, and raucous, pub-soaked heartache may be earnest to a fault, but when the wildly imperfect Sigh No More is firing on all cylinders, as is the case with stand-out cuts like "The Cave," "Winter Winds," and "Little Lion Man," it`s hard not to get swept up in the rapture. Like their London underground folk scene contemporaries Noah & the Whale, Johnny Flynn, and Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons` take on British folk is far from traditional. There`s a deep vein of 21st century Americana that runs through the album, suggesting a healthy diet of Fleet Foxes, Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, Blitzen Trapper, and Marah. That melding of styles, along with some solid knob-twiddling from Arcade Fire/Coldplay producer Markus Dravs, helps to keep the record from completely sinking into the quicksand of its myriad slow numbers -- tracks like "I Gave You All," "Thistle & Weeds," and "After the Storm" are pretty and plain enough, but they neuter a band this spirited. Sigh No More is an impressive debut, but one that impresses more for its promise of the future than it does its wildly inconsistent place in the present. [A Deluxe Edition of Sigh No More was released in December 2010, and featured the original album, a second disc of 12 live recordings, and a DVD that included all three installments of the documentary "Gentlemen of the Road."} ~ James Christopher Monger

Track Listing:

DISC 1

1. Sigh No More
2. Cave, The
3. Winter Winds
4. Roll Away Your Stone
5. White Blank Page
6. I Gave You All
7. Little Lion Man
8. Timshel
9. Thistle & Weeds
10. Awake My Soul
11. Dust Bowl Dance
12. After the Storm

Album Information

Release Date:

02/16/2010

Type:

Performer

Genre:

Rock & Pop

Subgenre:

Alternative

Label:

Gentlemen of the Road

Producer:

Markus Dravs

Catalog Number:

00223

Original Release Year:

2009

# of Discs:

1

Studio/Live:

Studio

Mono/Stereo:

Stereo

Runtime:

48 : 33

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