The band Mumford & Sons.
On the surface, one might say that Wilder Mind, the third album from the London quartet, has seen Mumford & Sons change from waistcoats and plaid to leather and denim. But that's a bit misleading really, a hokey oversimplification.
Because while the banjos and accordions and folksy percussion (and even
the beards) have gone, they haven't magically turned into The Rolling Stones.
Instead they've taken some nostalgia for the 80s with Dire Straits rhythmic motifs and Bruce Springsteen chord progressions, turned their electric guitar dial round to U2, and given a nod to Chris Martin and his emotive, anthemic tendencies.
They've found themselves wandering somewhere between the twisted classic rock reinvention of The War On Drugs, and arena-winning glimmer of Coldplay, with Marcus Mumford's vocals couched amid a newly propulsive rhythm section, some very pretty electric guitar and sweeping washes of synth.
It's been beautifully produced - they've switched from working with Arcade Fire producer Markus Dravs, who helped them with the undeniably successful Sigh No More and Babel, and got James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Haim, Florence and the Machine) on board. Ford's certainly helped them up the arena rock factor while retaining their mainstream appeal, and every track has a strong sense of space, scale and instrumental placement, along with a certain warmth.
