Growing in recognition, nominated for two Grammys (and playing at the Grammys with Bob Dylan and the Avett Brothers – come on, that will be the high point of the whole night!), let me add my voice to the growing chorus and profess my great affection for the music of Mumford and Sons.
Oh my, what stunningly great music – lyrically and musically, deeply visceral and full of heart all at once. There’s a psalmic quality to much of their music – lamenting what is, yearning for more, angry, repentant, rejoicing, hopeful. It’s music by which to raise a pint or lift a prayer.
One of my benchmarks for great music is its capacity to coax me out of my small little self, to make me feel fully aflame, caught in a moment forgetful of self and unconcerned with what others might think. The music of Mumford and Sons does that for me again and again – I get lost in the power of the music – I want to jump and dance, kneel and weep, pray or just yell out “thank you”!
Just consider this sampling of their lyrics:
- “Love that will not betray you, dismay or enslave you, it will set you free.”
- “If only I had an enemy bigger than my apathy, I could have won.”
- “Where you invest your love, you invest your life.”
- “It’s not the long walk home that will change this heart but the welcome I receive with a restart.”
But those words, in text alone, seem tame; you’ve got to enter the power of the music with the beauty of the lyrics, producing at once a rich, melodic quiet space and then next a pulsing, pounding, rhythmic, breathless romp (I love how the tempo changes dare you not to dance).
Try to catch their performance on the Grammy’s or check out this video of the Mumford and Sons song “Sigh no more.”
Squinch 
Couldn’t have said it better myself. The Grammy’s might even be worth watching this year.