‘I don’t give a s**t what Avicii does’
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New look … Banjos out, electric guitars and graffiti in for the reborn Mumford & Sons. Picture: Supplied.
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THERE was a simple rule when British band Mumford & Sons started their third album — synthesisers, drums and guitars in, banjos out.
When your unlikely banjo-fuelled hits Little Lion Man, The Cave and I Will Wait propelled your first two albums to sell over six million copies that’s a bold decision.
Marcus Mumford says the band went banjos down in order to not repeat themselves.
“That would kill our band,” Mumford says. “We would be dead in the water if we did that. We sat down before this record and looked at each other and said ‘OK, what do you want to do? Should we do another album? Should we stop? Have we got another album in us?’ Of course the answer is yes, we have got another album in us and hopefully the answer will be yes for ten albums to come. I feel like the arc of this band is just beginning. But there was no innate pressure, it was really our choice to make this album, we’re choosing to be here. Simon Cowell didn’t put us here.”
Had to be done … Mumford & Sons said a musical change was a necessity. Picture: Supplied.
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The first taste of third album Wilder Mind was Believe, a slow-burning song full of electronics and a belated burst of wailing guitar that confused some.
Mumford, no fan of social media, was blissfully unaware of the reaction to their ‘comeback’ song and comparisons to U2, Radiohead and Coldplay.
“Comments pages are the devil,” he wisely notes. “I’ve avoided those things. I’ve been aware mostly from doing interviews of some inevitably mixed reaction, I haven’t gone searching for it. It’s shocked some people to start with, but we know what we’re doing. And if we’re being compared to U2, Coldplay and Radiohead we’re being compared to bands that have had a lot of albums and always change their sound. Which is a non-insult.”
Indeed, Mumford is more than happy to explain why they have gone through the musical change, aided by new producer James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Florence and the Machine).
“I’m not just sitting here going ‘F— everyone, why don’t people understand me man! It’s our job to explain to people what we’re doing. We’ve been known for a certain instrumentation. The banjo, in particular, has been talked about a lot. But there’s also the double bass, accordion, mandolin and acoustic guitar we’re laying off for a while.”
The ye old days … Mumford & Sons rocking their vintage threads and instruments. Picture: Supplied.
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“We kind of borrowed those instruments anyway, these are the instruments we grew up playing. I grew up as a drummer, Winston (Marshall, reformed banjo player) grew up as a heavy metal guitarist. I suppose all our singles featured those instruments pretty heavily and you get known for your singles. But I hope people will embrace the songs rather than the instrumentation. Because I’m really proud of these songs, I think they’re better. You’d hope they would be as you get more experience and you’ve got a few more miles under your belt. We’ll see.”
After their albums Sigh No More and Babel were embraced by millions as real, credible albums in a time of superficial pop the Mumford influence could be heard in everyone from One Direction to Avicii suddenly finding their inner folkie.
Mumford is modest about the impact his band has had on modern music.
Ready for something different … Marcus Mumford is embracing their new sound. Picture: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images
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“I don’t see it like we had influence. I see it like we were part of a time that was already being heralded and ushered in by bands from literally a hundred years before us, but also modern bands like Fleet Foxes who were around before us. There are lots of bands in the world doing it well. When we started out we just wanted to be like Noah and the Whale. But we were part of something that mainstream music embraced, in an acoustic way, which is great.
“I don’t give a s!@t what Avicii does to be honest. I don’t listen to it, I don’t really care. But when you start hearing more and more of that type of music on the radio or around the place naturally we all hit saturation point. You think ‘OK, that was cool, but I’m ready for something different now’. As a band you’re always slightly ahead of your audience. We don’t write in the way some of those big pop bands would write in reaction to the market, because it’s basically a business. We don’t write in reaction to that, we write whatever we want to write and put it out and really hope people like it.”
There’s already talk about the new image for the band, with the ye-olde waistcoats and ties replaced by a rock look.
Mumford, no follower of fashion, says everyone changes their look from what they were wearing eight years ago.
Papped … Carey Mulligan and Marcus Mumford dodge snappers in New York. Picture: Supplied
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“I think that’s natural. I’m not really interested in the superficial take on things. That is even more superficial than people talking about the change in instrumentation. People see something and go ‘Oh, different’. I want people to listen to the songs not worry about what we’re wearing.”
Despite the band’s success, they’ve never courted fame. Mumford always politely declines to talk about his marriage to The Great Gatsby star Carey Mulligan.
Handily for him, Wilder Mind sees all the band contribute to each song lyrically, which means he can deflect songs about love as well as songs about breakups (two band members ended long term relationships between albums).
“Everyone’s had something to say on each song lyrically which is wicked,” Mumford says. “We’ve made an album we can all engage with and relate to. And we’ve written our first love song, which was fun but a hard thing to do. It was probably harder when all the attention was on one writer. There’s a bit of anonymity in the lyrics now, which I certainly embrace.”
While the band have no Australian dates yet, expect news sooner rather than later.
“Australia was the first country outside the UK to embrace us,” Mumford says. “Personally, as a band we’re excited to come. We’ll be there by the end of the year.”
Wilder Mind (Universal) out May 1
