#30: Sigh No More

Sigh No More

Mumford and Sons

2009

Island Records (UK)

Glassnote Records (US)

Peak position on the charts:

#2 - UK Albums Chart

#2 - US Billboard 200

Let me start off by noting that this album received a 2.1 out of 10 rating over at Pitchfork, showing that review sites don't always get it right.

Rising out of what British media called the "West London folk scene" (a label Marcus Mumford himself found preposterous), Mumford and Sons toured throughout Europe with nothing but loaned instruments and a four song EP entitled Love Your Ground. They quickly gathered an underground-type following, and rose to grandeur when British producer Markus Darvs, famous for his contributions on such albums as Coldplay's Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends and Arcade Fire's recent Grammy winning The Suburbs. Signing with Island Records in the UK, and briefly after with Glassnote Records in the US, Sigh No More came into full fruition and was released in October of 2009. The lead single off the album, "Little Lion Man", was well-received, reaching #1 on the US Alternative Songs chart and making them a main-stage band for the first time in their brief careers. At the 53rd Grammy Awards in 2011, Mumford and Sons was nominated for two awards, Best New Artists and Best Rock Song for "Little Lion Man", but won neither.

Each member of the West London quartet is quite musically inclined; each member is a multi-instrumentalist. Rarely, in concert, will any member play the same instrument for consecutive songs. In part, their mix-and-match ability helps to energise their performances. Really, the only measure of pure consistency within the band itself is Marcus Mumford's vocals.

Frankly, though, his vocals are what propels Sigh No More above anything else that has come out of the West London folk scene.

The tenderness of his voice often leads into a breakpoint of harshness and what sounds like built-up anger. (This is particularly evident in the lesser-known songs, such as "White Blank Page" and "I Gave You All".) The lyrics are of a heart-broken man who is still trying to figure out where he went wrong:

"So tell me now, where was my fault

in loving you with my whole heart?"

-- "White Blank Page"

until the point that he figures it out:

"But it was not your fault but mine.

And it was your heart on the line.

I really fucked it up this time

didn't I my dear?"

-- "Little Lion Man"

and:

"Align my body, my heart, my mind

to face what I've done and do my time."

-- "Dustbowl Dance"

The band is not purely bent of vocal beauty, though. For every transition to soft and sorrowful to brash and upset is an equal wonderful instrumental buildup, from a soft, simple guitar line to a thick, fast-paced banjo paired with a mandolin, full drum set and occasional dirty electric guitar riffs (if they can be called that). The overall musicality that Mumford and Sons brings to Sigh No More -- their debut album, no less -- is expertly done, and the complexity of what they put together, while easy to overlook, is certain evident.

Well done, Mumford and Sons. You have put together a truly beautiful album.

A link to a youtube video of "Winter Winds" is embedded in the Recommended Tracks section below.

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Recommended Tracks:

The Cave (3.38)

Winter Winds (3.40)

I Gave You All (4.20)

Little Lion Man (4.07)