“Little Lion Man”
from the album Sigh No More
2009
iTunes
The name of Marcus Mumford and his band of Sons has been floating around the New English folk scene for at least three years, what with forming part of Laura Marling’s backing band and sharing a house with Jay Jay Pistolet, but its taken a play of single “Little Lion Man” on Zane Lowe’s radio show as Hottest Record in the World Today for them to start garnering the attention they deserve.
After releasing several EPs on Chess Club they’ve graduated to the prestigious Island records, home of brit-pop legends Pulp, for their first full-length effort, Sigh No More. Combining the best of Laura Marling’s melodic sense and the righteous, angry folk playing of the Pogues with a vocal that ranges from soft moan to guttural roar, Mumford & Sons make sure that each song is varies in tone.
Opener “Sigh No More” starts worryingly low-key, all gentle guitar strums and barely audible chanting vocals, and for half its length is actually the weakest part of the entire album. Thankfully at precisely halfway through its running time it breaks into something remarkable, with Mumford letting loose with a howl about the nature of love. It’s a finely pitched piece of forceful music which after the sedate beginning takes you by surprise whilst paving the way for the finest parts of the rest of the album.
In terms of songwriting Mumford & Sons manage to neatly sidestep the genre’s traps of high-romanticising and overly wordy verses. In the latter case they actually head off in the opposite direction, with the majority of tracks being rather heavy handed with chorus repetition. It’s easily forgiven though, as each time reiteration often accompanied by a joyous musical up-swelling and a confident group vocal. The perfect example of this is “Winter Winds,” whose chorus of “and my head told my heart to let love grow / but my heart told my head this time no” grows and grows until it’s punctuated by a wistful saxophone solo reminiscent of the Pogues’ “A Rainy Night in Soho.”
However, the album is at its best when its songs fall into one of two categories. Firstly are the sinister songs such as “Little Lion Man,” “White Blank Page,” or “Thistles and Weeds” which, thanks to the immense production, sounds almost apocalyptic. The second are the sweepingly majestic songs (of which there are many), including “Sigh No More,” “I Gave You All,” and “Awake My Soul,” whose group vocals and lilting melodies grab hold of your attention and refuse to let go, ensuring multiple plays.