Music / Mumford & Sons

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Mumford & Sons are a British folk-rock band, formed in 2007. Its founding (and current) members are the titular Marcus Mumford, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane.

They released their debut album Sigh No More in 2009, with their second Babel releasing in 2013. They then changed their music style from Folk to a more general Alternative Rock style for Wilder Mind in 2015 and their fourth album Delta in 2018. After going on a hiatus following Winston Marshall's departure from the band in 2021, their fifth album RUSHMERE was released in 2025. Their sixth album Prizefighter was released the following year.

Outside the band, Marcus released his debut album, literally called (self-titled) in 2022.

Members:

Current:

• Marcus Mumford – lead vocals, guitars, drums
• Ted Dwane – vocals, bass guitar, double bass, drums
• Ben Lovett – vocals, piano, keyboards, accordion

Former:

• Winston Marshall – vocals, banjo, guitars (2007-2021)

Discography:

• Sigh No More (2009)
• Babel (2012)
• Wilder Mind (2015)
• Johannesburg (Collab with Baaba Maal, Beatenberg and The Very Best) (EP, 2016)
• Delta (2018)
• RUSHMERE (2025)
• Prizefighter (2026)

I will trope, I will trope for you:

• Act of True Love: "Hopeless Wanderer" involves a man vowing to try and stay tied down to one place despite his inherent need to roam when he sees how bad it hurts his lover.
• Arc Words: "There will come a time" and variants thereof pop up in a handful of their songs.
• Badass Boast: "You haven't met me, I am the only son!"
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Referenced vaguely in "Little Lion Man".
  "Your grace is wasted in your face. Your boldness stands alone among the wreck."
• CAPS LOCK: Their fifth album RUSHMERE is spelled in all caps, though the Title Track is spelt normally.
• Chronological Album Title: Delta is the fourth letter in the Greek alphabet and serves as the band's fourth album.
• Destructive Romance: "Unfinished Business".
• Did You Think I Can't Feel?:
  • "Blank White Page" is about the singer losing his temper at the person he's in (unrequited) love with taking advantage of his devotion.
  • "Thistle and Weeds" is about the singer calling out someone they trust for hurting them because of their own shortcomings.
• Dying Alone: In "After The Storm", the singer is afraid that this will happen to him.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: The singer in "Ghosts That We Knew" and their lover eventually recover from previous emotional trauma and head on towards a brighter future.
• Epic Rocking: Delta's Title Track is 6:16.
• Holding Out for a Hero: "I Gave You All".
  If only I had an enemy bigger than my apathy
  I could have won.
• The Invisible Band: In the video for "Hopeless Wanderer", the band members themselves do not appear, and are instead played by comic actors Jason Bateman, Ed Helms, Will Forte, and Jason Sudeikis. Let's just say they get a little too into their performance.
• I Will Wait for You: "I Will Wait".
  Well I came home
  Like a stone
  And I fell heavy into your arms
  These days of dust
  Which we've known
  Will blow away with this new sun
  But I'll kneel down
  Wait for now
  And I'll kneel down
  Know my ground
• Longest Song Goes Last: The Title Track of Delta ends the album and is the longest at over 6 minutes.
• Meaningful Name: "42" is their fourty second solo release.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Repeated throughout "Little Lion Man" is the singer admitting that he was responsible for destroying the relationship and hurting the one he loved.
  But it was not your fault but mine
  But it was your heart on the line
  I really fucked it up this time
  Didn't I, my dear?
• Never Be Hurt Again: Implied to be the cause of the singer's conflict between his head and his heart in "Winter Winds". Unusually, it's his head that urges letting him love again, and his heart that refuses to.
• New Sound Album:
  • The band expressed a disinterest with continuing to write acoustic folk music beyond their second album, and, after working with producer and guitarist Aaron Dessner, progressed towards a more amplified alternative rock sound on Wilder Mind.
  • The Johannesburg EP sounds entirely different from Wilder Mind and their older stuff as well, owing to the contribution of the African artists they were touring with at the time.
• Non-Appearing Title: "Dust Bowl Dance", "Timshel".
• Non-Indicative Name: Marcus Mumford’s other members are not related to him at all.
• Prayer Is a Last Resort: In an unusually threatening way for "Dust Bowl Dance":
  There will come a time I will look in your eye
  You will pray to the god that you've always denied
• Precision F-Strike: Happens in one song per album, for their first three albums: "Little Lion Man", "Broken Crown", and "Monster". Also happens in "Blind Leading the Blind", which was originally supposed to be on Delta, and "Cannibal", a song on Marcus Mumford's 2022 self-titled album.
• Protest Song: "Blind Leading the Blind", which is about Mumford calling out his generation for being cynical and ignoring the poor.
• Revisiting the Roots: RUSHMERE goes back to their original folk sound after the Alternative Rock sound of Wilder Mind and Delta.
• Shout-Out:
  • The entirety of the Title Track to Sigh No More references the William Shakespeare comedy Much Ado About Nothing, the song itself (and the album, for that matter) being Titled After the Song that Balthasar sings in Act 2, Scene 3, and the lyric "But man is a giddy thing" being taken directly from Benedick's final monologue near the end of the play, which he speaks to Don Pedro upon swearing love to Beatrice.
  • One of their songs is titled "Timshel".
• Special Guest:
  • Pharrell Williams joins them in "Good People".
  • Prizefighter has Hozier in "Rubber Band Man", Gracie Abrams in "Badlands" and Gigi Perez in "Icarus".
• Refusal of the Call: "Broken Crown".
  Touch my mouth and hold my tongue
  I'll never be your chosen one.
• Unrequited Love Lasts Forever: "Where Are You Now" is about a man who is still in love with his ex, who's long since gotten over him.
• You Are Not Alone: "Timshel".
  You are not alone in this

So open up my eyes
Tell me I'm alive
This is never gonna go our way
If I'm gonna have to guess what's on your mind