Mumford & Sons
Encyclopedia
Mumford & Sons are a British folk rock
band. The band consists of Marcus Mumford
(vocals, guitar, drums, mandolin
), Ben Lovett (vocals, keyboards, accordion, drums), Country Winston Marshall (vocals, banjo
, dobro
), and Ted Dwane (vocals, string bass, drums, guitar). The band formed in December 2007, rising out of what some in the media labeled the "West London folk scene" with other artists such as Laura Marling
, Johnny Flynn
and Noah and the Whale
.
Mumford & Sons recorded an EP, Love Your Ground, and toured extensively in Ireland to expose audiences to their music and build support for an eventual album. Their debut album, Sigh No More
, was released in Ireland in October 2009, and February 2010 in the United States. The album reached number one in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand and peaked at number two on the UK Album Chart and the Billboard 200
in the US.
The band gained popularity throughout 2010, performing for larger audiences and making their first network television appearances in the U.S. On 1 December 2010, the band received two Grammy Award
nominations, one for Best New Artist and the other for Best Rock Song ("Little Lion Man
"). They won the ARIA Music Award
for Most Popular International Artist in 2010, and the Brit Award
in 2011 for Best British Album
.
As of the end of their North American Tour in the Summer of 2011 they reportedly went home to England and started recording a new album. Various songs from the album have been performed during live shows, and the tentatively-titled track "Ghosts That We Knew" was debuted in a live studio performance at the Philadelphia-based station Radio 104.5. The official release date of the album has not been announced.
, drums, keyboard instruments, bass guitar
, and traditional folk instruments such as banjo
, mandolin
, and resonator guitar
. The band name originates from the fact that Marcus Mumford was the most visible member at the time, organizing the band and their local performances. Lovett indicated that the name was meant to invoke the sense of an "antiquated family business name". A handful of similar bands were increasing their visibility in West London around the same time, giving rise to the label "West London folk scene". Mumford downplays that characterisation as an exaggeration—Mumford & Sons and a few other folk acts just happened to be operating in general area at the time. In an interview with the Herald Sun
, Marcus Mumford said, "It's not folk really. Well, some of it is, and it's certainly not a scene. Someone got over-excited about a few bands who live in a hundred-mile radius and put it in a box to sell it as a package. It's a community, not a scene. It's not exclusive." Having developed in the same musical and cultural environment, Mumford & Sons' sound has been compared to that of artists such as Noah and the Whale, Johnny Flynn, and Laura Marling
, for whom Marcus Mumford used to drum.
In early 2008 the band began working with manager Adam Tudhope, who, as part of management company Everybody's, also represents Keane and Laura Marling
. It was through Tudhope's connection that Mumford & Sons were exposed to their future A&R at Island, Louis Bloom, who began monitoring the band. Bloom told HitQuarters
that they were still at a fledgling state and not yet ready for a label deal: "There was no one there for it, just a few friends, and they needed time to develop. Over the next six months I kept going to see them and they were literally picking up fans every time."
In February 2008, the band completed an extensive UK tour with support from Alessi's Ark
, Sons of Noel and Adrian
, Peggy Sue, Pete Roe, The Cutaway and others. June marked the band's first appearance at the Glastonbury Festival
. Mumford also toured Australia with Laura Marling
, whose disinclination to interact with audiences encouraged Mumford into the spotlight. The experience helped inform his attitude toward Mumford & Sons audiences, which is to interact frequently and to try to create a comfortable, casual atmosphere.
Mumford & Sons' first project was an EP entitled Love Your Ground which took a year to complete and was released in November 2008 on Chess Club Records.
, who had produced albums with artists such as Arcade Fire. At the time, band members did not even own their own instruments—Dravs initially turned them away when they showed up at the recording sessions empty-handed. The only track from Love Your Ground to be included on Sigh No More was "Little Lion Man
". The band told the Herald Sun that they self-financed the album to avoid the artistic and technical compromises that sometimes befall studio-financed projects. They toured again in support of Laura Marling
in 2009, and Mumford & Sons were contributing musicians to her 2010 album I Speak Because I Can
.
In August 2009, Mumford & Sons signed a licensing deal to Island Records
in the UK, to Dew Process
in Australia and New Zealand, to Glassnote Records
in North America and Cooparative Music
in the rest of the world, and through its own label Gentlemen of the Road. Dew Process boss Paul Piticco
signed the band after having seen it at a US gig in 2009 and having appreciated its "honest" approach and unique sound. Their debut album was released on 5 October 2009 with "Little Lion Man" as the lead single.
Dave Berry
of XFM
named "Little Lion Man" his record of the week, and in another interview with the band, Berry said "Screw 'of the week', it's my favourite track of the year." BBC Radio 1
DJ Zane Lowe
made "Little Lion Man" his "Reaction Record" on 27 July 2009, before naming it the "Hottest Record in the World" the following evening.
In their first performance on US network television, the band played their single "Little Lion Man" on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman
on 17 February 2010. This appearance was followed by a performance of "The Cave" on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
on 26 February 2010.
Mumford & Sons have been commercially successful in Australia and New Zealand. The single "Little Lion Man" has been popular—by January 2010, it had topped the Triple J Hottest 100
list for all of 2009. Its margin of victory was the largest in the history of the chart. In November 2010, the band won an ARIA Music Award for Most Popular International Artist. Sigh No More first reached number 9 on the New Zealand charts in October 2010, and subsequently topped the chart in January 2011 due to strong popularity of singles from the album.
In a March 2010 interview, Ray Davies
announced that Mumford & Sons will be appearing on his forthcoming collaborations album. Marcus confirmed this in an interview the same month, stating, "I am more excited about that than I have been about anything before in my life". Mumford & Sons performed the track "Days/This Time Tomorrow" along with Davies on 12 February 2010 on Later... with Jools Holland.
The band also feature in the three 30 second UK television advertisements.
In December 2010, Mumford & Sons earned Grammy Award nominations for Best New Artist and Best Rock Song ("Little Lion Man"). While they did not go on to win an award, the band performed their single "The Cave" at the Grammy ceremony. The performance earned positive media attention and boosted visibility for Sigh No More—US sales increased by 99% in the period following the ceremony. They also backed Bob Dylan
in his performance of "Maggie's Farm
". In February 2011 they won a Brit Award for British Album of the Year with Sigh No More and performed "Timshel" at the ceremony. UK sales of the album subsequently increased by 266 percent.
As of March 2011, Sigh No More has sold over 1,000,000 copies in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
having played as relative unknowns on the John Peel stage in 2010. On 13 April 2011, VH1 filmed an intimate unplugged performance by Mumford & Sons - appropriately titled 'Mumford & Sons: Unplugged'. On 11 June 2011, Mumford & Sons performed at Bonnaroo on "Which Stage". While performing at Buzz Under The Stars Night 1 in Kansas City, MO on 3 June, the first stop of their U.S. Tour, the band announced they have been recording a new album, initially set to be released in late 2011. They then performed several new tracks from the forthcoming album, of which the title was not revealed.
Mumford & Sons played at the Glastonbury festival on Friday 24 June 2011, and then embarked on a North American tour. Mumford & Sons have recorded two songs for Andrea Arnold
's adaptation of Wuthering Heights
, one of which (entitled "Enemy") will be played over the closing credits.
On 2 November 2011, the band performed a track from their upcoming album on Radio 104.5
, a Philadelphia radio station. The song was presented under the title "Ghosts That We Knew"; however, Mumford noted that the track title was not final. While the release date of the new album has been the subject of speculation in the social media sphere, the official release date has not been announced.
Much of Mumford & Sons' lyrical content has a strong literary influence, its debut album name deriving from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing
. The track "Sigh No More" includes lines from the play such as Serve God love me and mend and One foot in sea and one on shore. The song "Roll Away Your Stone" is influenced by Macbeth
. In an interview, Mumford was quoted as saying, "You can rip off Shakespeare all you like; no lawyer's going to call you up on that one." Additionally, "The Cave" includes several references to The Odyssey, also referencing Plato's cave
, from The Republic.
Both "Timshel" and "Dust Bowl Dance" draw heavily from the John Steinbeck
novels Of Mice and Men
, East of Eden
and Grapes of Wrath. Mumford, in an interview, even compared touring to a Steinbeck adventure: "[Steinbeck] talked about how a journey is a thing of its own, and you can't plan it or predict it too much because that suffocates the life out it. That's kind of what touring is like. Even though there's a structure—you know what towns you're going to, and that you'll be playing a gig—pretty much anything can happen." Mumford also in his spare time runs an online book club on the band's official web site.
|rowspan="1"|2011
|rowspan="1"| Mumford & Sons
|Favorite Alternative Rock Artist
|
|}
|rowspan="1"|2010
|rowspan="1"| Mumford & Sons
|Most Popular International Artist
|
|}
|rowspan="7"|2011
|rowspan="2"| Sigh No More
|Top Rock Album
|
|-
|Top Alternative Album
|
|-
|rowspan="2"| "Little Lion Man"
|Top Rock Song
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|Top Alternative song
|
|-
|rowspan="1"| "The Cave"
|
|-
|rowspan="2"| Mumford & Sons
|Top Rock Artist
|
|-
|Top Alternative Artist
|
|}
|rowspan="3"|2011
|rowspan="2"| Mumford & Sons
|Best British Group
|
|-
|Best Breakthrough Act
|
|-
|rowspan="1"| Sigh No More
|British Album of the Year
|
|}
|rowspan="2"|2011
|rowspan="1"| Mumford & Sons
|Best New Artist
|
|-
|rowspan="1"| "Little Lion Man"
|Best Rock Song
|
|-
|rowspan="4"|2012
|rowspan="4"|"The Cave"
|Record Of The Year
|
|-
|Song Of The Year
|
|-
|Best Rock Performance
|
|-
|Best Rock Song
|
|}
|rowspan="1"|2010
|rowspan="1"| "Little Lion Man"
|Best Cinematography
|
|-
|rowspan="1"|2011
|rowspan="1"| "The Cave"
|Best Rock Video
|
|}
|rowspan="1"|2010
|rowspan="1"| Mumford & Sons
|Best New Band
|
|}
|rowspan="2"|2010
|rowspan="1"| Mumford & Sons
|Best New Act
|
|-
|rowspan="1"| "The Cave"
|Best Track
|
|}
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
band. The band consists of Marcus Mumford
Marcus Mumford
Marcus Oliver Johnston Mumford is an English lead singer of the Mercury Prize- and Grammy-nominated band Mumford & Sons. He plays many instruments with the band, including guitar, drums, and mandolin. He is recently engaged to Academy Award nominated actress Carey Mulligan.-Background:Mumford was...
(vocals, guitar, drums, mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
), Ben Lovett (vocals, keyboards, accordion, drums), Country Winston Marshall (vocals, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, dobro
Dobro
Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
), and Ted Dwane (vocals, string bass, drums, guitar). The band formed in December 2007, rising out of what some in the media labeled the "West London folk scene" with other artists such as Laura Marling
Laura Marling
Laura Beatrice Marling is an English folk musician from Eversley, Hampshire.Initially prominent within the London folk scene, she has also toured with a number of well-known indie artists in the UK. Her debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim and her second album I Speak Because I Can were nominated for...
, Johnny Flynn
Johnny Flynn
Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit are an English folk rock band signed to Transgressive Records. They are fronted by Johnny Flynn , an actor, poet and songwriter who cites W.B. Yeats and Shakespeare among his influences...
and Noah and the Whale
Noah and the Whale
Noah and the Whale are an English indie folk band from Twickenham, London, England formed in 2006. The band consists of Charlie Fink , Tom Hobden , Matt "Urby Whale" Owens , Fred Abbott , and Michael Petulla .-Early years and Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down...
.
Mumford & Sons recorded an EP, Love Your Ground, and toured extensively in Ireland to expose audiences to their music and build support for an eventual album. Their debut album, Sigh No More
Sigh No More (Mumford & Sons album)
The album has received mainly positive reviews. On the review aggregate site Metacritic, the album has a score of 68 out of 100, indicating "Generally favorable reviews."-Track listing:-Bonus tracks:-Release history:...
, was released in Ireland in October 2009, and February 2010 in the United States. The album reached number one in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand and peaked at number two on the UK Album Chart and the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
in the US.
The band gained popularity throughout 2010, performing for larger audiences and making their first network television appearances in the U.S. On 1 December 2010, the band received two Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominations, one for Best New Artist and the other for Best Rock Song ("Little Lion Man
Little Lion Man
"Little Lion Man" is the debut single by London folk quartet Mumford & Sons released from their debut album, Sigh No More. It was released in the UK 11 August 2009....
"). They won the ARIA Music Award
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Recording Industry Association...
for Most Popular International Artist in 2010, and the Brit Award
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
in 2011 for Best British Album
2011 BRIT Awards
The 2011 BRIT Awards was held on Tuesday 15 February 2011.It was the 31st edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The award ceremony was held at The O2 Arena...
.
As of the end of their North American Tour in the Summer of 2011 they reportedly went home to England and started recording a new album. Various songs from the album have been performed during live shows, and the tentatively-titled track "Ghosts That We Knew" was debuted in a live studio performance at the Philadelphia-based station Radio 104.5. The official release date of the album has not been announced.
Early years: 2007–2008
Mumford & Sons was formed in December 2007 by multi-instrumentalists Marcus Mumford, Ben Lovett, Winston Marshall, and Ted Dwane. Band members variously play guitarGuitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, drums, keyboard instruments, bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, and traditional folk instruments such as banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, and resonator guitar
Resonator guitar
A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar is an acoustic guitar whose sound is produced by one or more spun metal cones instead of the wooden sound board . Resonator guitars were originally designed to be louder than conventional acoustic guitars which were overwhelmed by horns and percussion...
. The band name originates from the fact that Marcus Mumford was the most visible member at the time, organizing the band and their local performances. Lovett indicated that the name was meant to invoke the sense of an "antiquated family business name". A handful of similar bands were increasing their visibility in West London around the same time, giving rise to the label "West London folk scene". Mumford downplays that characterisation as an exaggeration—Mumford & Sons and a few other folk acts just happened to be operating in general area at the time. In an interview with the Herald Sun
Herald Sun
The Herald Sun is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia. It is published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Limited, itself a subsidiary of News Corporation. It is available for purchase throughout Melbourne, Regional Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital...
, Marcus Mumford said, "It's not folk really. Well, some of it is, and it's certainly not a scene. Someone got over-excited about a few bands who live in a hundred-mile radius and put it in a box to sell it as a package. It's a community, not a scene. It's not exclusive." Having developed in the same musical and cultural environment, Mumford & Sons' sound has been compared to that of artists such as Noah and the Whale, Johnny Flynn, and Laura Marling
Laura Marling
Laura Beatrice Marling is an English folk musician from Eversley, Hampshire.Initially prominent within the London folk scene, she has also toured with a number of well-known indie artists in the UK. Her debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim and her second album I Speak Because I Can were nominated for...
, for whom Marcus Mumford used to drum.
In early 2008 the band began working with manager Adam Tudhope, who, as part of management company Everybody's, also represents Keane and Laura Marling
Laura Marling
Laura Beatrice Marling is an English folk musician from Eversley, Hampshire.Initially prominent within the London folk scene, she has also toured with a number of well-known indie artists in the UK. Her debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim and her second album I Speak Because I Can were nominated for...
. It was through Tudhope's connection that Mumford & Sons were exposed to their future A&R at Island, Louis Bloom, who began monitoring the band. Bloom told HitQuarters
HitQuarters
HitQuarters is an international music industry publication and contact database founded in 1999. It is noted for in-depth interviews with industry figures, with past subjects including Simon Cowell, Martin Kierszenbaum, Jason Flom, Diane Warren, Peter Edge, Ron Fair and RedOne, as well as its A&R...
that they were still at a fledgling state and not yet ready for a label deal: "There was no one there for it, just a few friends, and they needed time to develop. Over the next six months I kept going to see them and they were literally picking up fans every time."
In February 2008, the band completed an extensive UK tour with support from Alessi's Ark
Alessi's Ark
Alessi's Ark is the musical project of Alessi Laurent-Marke , a singer-songwriter from Hammersmith in West London.-Career:...
, Sons of Noel and Adrian
Sons of Noel and Adrian
Sons of Noel and Adrian is a twelve piece experimental folk band based in Brighton, England. It features Nick Hemming from The Leisure Society, Mike Siddell from Hope of the States and Lightspeed Champion, Will Calderbank from The Miserable Rich and many other musicians from the Willkommen...
, Peggy Sue, Pete Roe, The Cutaway and others. June marked the band's first appearance at the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival 2008
The 2008 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was held from 25 to 29 June 2008.-New features:* The John Peel stage doubled in size and had a screen outside it to watch bands.* There was a new 'Shangri-La' area that replaced Lost Vagueness...
. Mumford also toured Australia with Laura Marling
Laura Marling
Laura Beatrice Marling is an English folk musician from Eversley, Hampshire.Initially prominent within the London folk scene, she has also toured with a number of well-known indie artists in the UK. Her debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim and her second album I Speak Because I Can were nominated for...
, whose disinclination to interact with audiences encouraged Mumford into the spotlight. The experience helped inform his attitude toward Mumford & Sons audiences, which is to interact frequently and to try to create a comfortable, casual atmosphere.
Mumford & Sons' first project was an EP entitled Love Your Ground which took a year to complete and was released in November 2008 on Chess Club Records.
Sigh No More: 2009–2010
Throughout 2008 and into 2009, Mumford & Sons performed in small to moderate venues in the UK and US, exposing audiences to Love Your Ground tracks and other material that would eventually become Sigh No More. The band finally recorded Sigh No More with Markus DravsMarkus Dravs
Markus Dravs is a music producer, programmer, engineer, and mixer.After hearing Brian Eno's collaboration with David Byrne "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts", he decided to get into engineering....
, who had produced albums with artists such as Arcade Fire. At the time, band members did not even own their own instruments—Dravs initially turned them away when they showed up at the recording sessions empty-handed. The only track from Love Your Ground to be included on Sigh No More was "Little Lion Man
Little Lion Man
"Little Lion Man" is the debut single by London folk quartet Mumford & Sons released from their debut album, Sigh No More. It was released in the UK 11 August 2009....
". The band told the Herald Sun that they self-financed the album to avoid the artistic and technical compromises that sometimes befall studio-financed projects. They toured again in support of Laura Marling
Laura Marling
Laura Beatrice Marling is an English folk musician from Eversley, Hampshire.Initially prominent within the London folk scene, she has also toured with a number of well-known indie artists in the UK. Her debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim and her second album I Speak Because I Can were nominated for...
in 2009, and Mumford & Sons were contributing musicians to her 2010 album I Speak Because I Can
I Speak Because I Can
All tracks by Laura Marling.# "Devil's Spoke" – 3:40# "Made by Maid" – 2:51# "Rambling Man" – 3:16# "Blackberry Stone" – 3:28# "Alpha Shallows" – 3:42# "Goodbye England " – 3:45# "Hope in the Air" – 4:32...
.
In August 2009, Mumford & Sons signed a licensing deal to Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
in the UK, to Dew Process
Dew Process
Dew Process is an Australian independent record label based in Brisbane, Queensland founded by Paul Piticco. The label essentially develops talent from Australia as well as provide promotional, marketing and distribution services for foreign artists looking for a home for their music in Australia...
in Australia and New Zealand, to Glassnote Records
Glassnote Records
Glassnote Records is an independent record label launched by American music executive Daniel Glass in 2007. The label primarily has a lineup of indie rock and alternative rock artists...
in North America and Cooparative Music
V2 Records
V2 Records is a record label that is owned by Universal Music Group as of October 2007. The label was founded in 1996 by Richard Branson, five years after he sold Virgin Records to EMI....
in the rest of the world, and through its own label Gentlemen of the Road. Dew Process boss Paul Piticco
Paul Piticco
Paul Piticco is the founder of Secret Service Artist Management, a musician management company and live music organiser, as well as the director of Dew Process, an independent record label...
signed the band after having seen it at a US gig in 2009 and having appreciated its "honest" approach and unique sound. Their debut album was released on 5 October 2009 with "Little Lion Man" as the lead single.
Dave Berry
Dave Berry (presenter)
David "Dave" Berry is a British TV and Radio presenter from Charlton, London, England. Currently working with ITV and Capital London.-Career:...
of XFM
Xfm
Xfm is a brand of two commercial radio stations focused on alternative music, primarily indie pop, and owned by Global Radio.-History:Xfm was created in London in 1992 by Sammy Jacob, who later co-founded NME Radio in 2008. Xfm subsequently expanded to a network of four stations; there are...
named "Little Lion Man" his record of the week, and in another interview with the band, Berry said "Screw 'of the week', it's my favourite track of the year." BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
DJ Zane Lowe
Zane Lowe
Zane Lowe also known as 'Zipper', is a radio DJ and television presenter. He was born in New Zealand and grew up in Auckland, where he was a presenter on the local music station Max TV, before moving to England...
made "Little Lion Man" his "Reaction Record" on 27 July 2009, before naming it the "Hottest Record in the World" the following evening.
In their first performance on US network television, the band played their single "Little Lion Man" on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...
on 17 February 2010. This appearance was followed by a performance of "The Cave" on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is a Peabody Award-winning American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish American comedian Craig Ferguson. Ferguson, the third regular host of the Late Late Show franchise, follows Late Show with David Letterman in the CBS late-night lineup...
on 26 February 2010.
Mumford & Sons have been commercially successful in Australia and New Zealand. The single "Little Lion Man" has been popular—by January 2010, it had topped the Triple J Hottest 100
Triple J Hottest 100, 2009
The 2009 Triple J Hottest 100 was announced on Australia Day 26 January 2010. It is the seventeenth countdown of the most popular songs of the year, as chosen by the listeners of Australian radio station Triple J....
list for all of 2009. Its margin of victory was the largest in the history of the chart. In November 2010, the band won an ARIA Music Award for Most Popular International Artist. Sigh No More first reached number 9 on the New Zealand charts in October 2010, and subsequently topped the chart in January 2011 due to strong popularity of singles from the album.
In a March 2010 interview, Ray Davies
Ray Davies
Ray Davies, CBE is an English rock musician. He is best known as lead singer and songwriter for the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother, Dave...
announced that Mumford & Sons will be appearing on his forthcoming collaborations album. Marcus confirmed this in an interview the same month, stating, "I am more excited about that than I have been about anything before in my life". Mumford & Sons performed the track "Days/This Time Tomorrow" along with Davies on 12 February 2010 on Later... with Jools Holland.
The band also feature in the three 30 second UK television advertisements.
In December 2010, Mumford & Sons earned Grammy Award nominations for Best New Artist and Best Rock Song ("Little Lion Man"). While they did not go on to win an award, the band performed their single "The Cave" at the Grammy ceremony. The performance earned positive media attention and boosted visibility for Sigh No More—US sales increased by 99% in the period following the ceremony. They also backed Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
in his performance of "Maggie's Farm
Maggie's Farm
"Maggie's Farm" is a song written by Bob Dylan, recorded on January 15, 1965, and released on the album Bringing It All Back Home on March 22 of that year...
". In February 2011 they won a Brit Award for British Album of the Year with Sigh No More and performed "Timshel" at the ceremony. UK sales of the album subsequently increased by 266 percent.
As of March 2011, Sigh No More has sold over 1,000,000 copies in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
Second studio album: 2011–present
While touring the United States in early 2011, the band began writing songs for the follow-up album. Keyboardist Ben Lovett credited the creative atmosphere of Nashville, Tennessee with easing the songwriting process. The album is due in late 2011. In March 2011, it was announced that the band would be appearing on The Other Stage at Glastonbury FestivalGlastonbury Festival 2011
The 2011 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was held from 22–26 June 2011. Tickets for the festival went on sale from 9 am on Sunday 3 October 2010, over 37 weeks before the festival was set to begin, with a deposit of £50 being paid, while the whole cost of a ticket is £195...
having played as relative unknowns on the John Peel stage in 2010. On 13 April 2011, VH1 filmed an intimate unplugged performance by Mumford & Sons - appropriately titled 'Mumford & Sons: Unplugged'. On 11 June 2011, Mumford & Sons performed at Bonnaroo on "Which Stage". While performing at Buzz Under The Stars Night 1 in Kansas City, MO on 3 June, the first stop of their U.S. Tour, the band announced they have been recording a new album, initially set to be released in late 2011. They then performed several new tracks from the forthcoming album, of which the title was not revealed.
Mumford & Sons played at the Glastonbury festival on Friday 24 June 2011, and then embarked on a North American tour. Mumford & Sons have recorded two songs for Andrea Arnold
Andrea Arnold
Andrea Arnold OBE is a filmmaker and former actress from England, who made her feature film directorial debut in 2006 with Red Road.-Early TV work:...
's adaptation of Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights (2011 film)
Wuthering Heights is a 2011 British romantic drama film directed by Andrea Arnold and starring Kaya Scodelario as Catherine and James Howson as Heathcliff. The screenplay, written by Andrea Arnold and Olivia Hetreed, is based on Emily Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name.- Cast :* Kaya Scodelario...
, one of which (entitled "Enemy") will be played over the closing credits.
On 2 November 2011, the band performed a track from their upcoming album on Radio 104.5
WRFF
WRFF is a modern rock FM radio station located in and licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications and is known on-air as "Radio 104.5."-WRCP-FM:...
, a Philadelphia radio station. The song was presented under the title "Ghosts That We Knew"; however, Mumford noted that the track title was not final. While the release date of the new album has been the subject of speculation in the social media sphere, the official release date has not been announced.
Musical style and influences
Mumford & Sons are noted for their energetic live performances in which band members juggle varying setlists and exchange musical instruments. In interviews, they express attraction to a culture of personal connection with audience members and "downsizing". The band members have stated many times that live gigs are by far their favourite part of the music experience, and that they strive for a lively, inclusive atmosphere.Much of Mumford & Sons' lyrical content has a strong literary influence, its debut album name deriving from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
. The track "Sigh No More" includes lines from the play such as Serve God love me and mend and One foot in sea and one on shore. The song "Roll Away Your Stone" is influenced by Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
. In an interview, Mumford was quoted as saying, "You can rip off Shakespeare all you like; no lawyer's going to call you up on that one." Additionally, "The Cave" includes several references to The Odyssey, also referencing Plato's cave
Allegory of the cave
The Allegory of the Cave—also known as the Analogy of the Cave, Plato's Cave, or the Parable of the Cave—is an allegory used by the Greek philosopher Plato in his work The Republic to illustrate "our nature in its education and want of education"...
, from The Republic.
Both "Timshel" and "Dust Bowl Dance" draw heavily from the John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
novels Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers during the Great Depression in California, USA....
, East of Eden
East of Eden
East of Eden is a novel by Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck, published in September 1952.Often described as Steinbeck's most ambitious novel, East of Eden brings to life the intricate details of two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, and their interwoven stories. The novel was originally...
and Grapes of Wrath. Mumford, in an interview, even compared touring to a Steinbeck adventure: "[Steinbeck] talked about how a journey is a thing of its own, and you can't plan it or predict it too much because that suffocates the life out it. That's kind of what touring is like. Even though there's a structure—you know what towns you're going to, and that you'll be playing a gig—pretty much anything can happen." Mumford also in his spare time runs an online book club on the band's official web site.
Discography
- Sigh No MoreSigh No More (Mumford & Sons album)The album has received mainly positive reviews. On the review aggregate site Metacritic, the album has a score of 68 out of 100, indicating "Generally favorable reviews."-Track listing:-Bonus tracks:-Release history:...
(2009)
American Music Awards
|-|rowspan="1"|2011
|rowspan="1"| Mumford & Sons
|Favorite Alternative Rock Artist
|
|}
ARIA Music Awards
|-|rowspan="1"|2010
|rowspan="1"| Mumford & Sons
|Most Popular International Artist
|
|}
Billboard Music Awards
|-|rowspan="7"|2011
|rowspan="2"| Sigh No More
|Top Rock Album
|
|-
|Top Alternative Album
|
|-
|rowspan="2"| "Little Lion Man"
|Top Rock Song
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|Top Alternative song
|
|-
|rowspan="1"| "The Cave"
|
|-
|rowspan="2"| Mumford & Sons
|Top Rock Artist
|
|-
|Top Alternative Artist
|
|}
BRIT Awards
|-|rowspan="3"|2011
|rowspan="2"| Mumford & Sons
|Best British Group
|
|-
|Best Breakthrough Act
|
|-
|rowspan="1"| Sigh No More
|British Album of the Year
|
|}
Grammy Awards
|-|rowspan="2"|2011
|rowspan="1"| Mumford & Sons
|Best New Artist
|
|-
|rowspan="1"| "Little Lion Man"
|Best Rock Song
|
|-
|rowspan="4"|2012
|rowspan="4"|"The Cave"
|Record Of The Year
|
|-
|Song Of The Year
|
|-
|Best Rock Performance
|
|-
|Best Rock Song
|
|}
MTV Video Music Awards
|-|rowspan="1"|2010
|rowspan="1"| "Little Lion Man"
|Best Cinematography
|
|-
|rowspan="1"|2011
|rowspan="1"| "The Cave"
|Best Rock Video
|
|}
NME Awards
|-|rowspan="1"|2010
|rowspan="1"| Mumford & Sons
|Best New Band
|
|}
Q Awards
|-|rowspan="2"|2010
|rowspan="1"| Mumford & Sons
|Best New Act
|
|-
|rowspan="1"| "The Cave"
|Best Track
|
|}