Consign Me Not to Darkness

As any Mumford & Sons fan, I have impatiently waited for this new album. Very impatient. They kept saying…they were working on it, they were recording it, wanted to perfect it…etc. etc. And I’m just like? Really, I have heard new songs when I saw them live. They played Broken Crown, Hopeless Wanderer, Lover of the Light, and Lover’s eyes. They sounded great…how much more work could you put into these songs? They were already so wonderful. Finally they release the tracklist, and honestly I was a little disappointed. You have worked on this album for a million years, I already know half of these songs. Hearing the new album isn’t going to be fun or exciting. There is no mystery, I already know most of these songs by heart. 

Boy, was I wrong. They took their time, and it paid off. And even if we had heard the songs on the album already, and you think really how much better could it get? These tracks are ten times stronger than they were when they first came out. They are stronger, more passionate, I feel more feeling when I hear hopeless wanderer or lover’s eyes than I thought possible. (However, Broken Crown is a different story. Hearing it for the first time live…wow. It was one of those times when Marcus was so forceful with the lyrics and just playing really hard it was wonderful, and will never be recaptured again.) But the songs on this album have really come a long way from the first time I heard them a year and a half ago, and I can’t wait for them to tour in the US again so I can hear all the songs I haven’t heard them perform. 

And that is my thoughts and feelings on Babel…that I thought it couldn’t get any better, but it did. 

*I want to add, that I wrote this before I heard the album version of Below My Feet….and I just want to say that I would have gladly paid $22 just to be able to listen to the last minute of that song. The end of that song is some of the most powerful music I have ever heard.