You might not know it in the first 40 seconds of the album, but all of these songs are indeed by Mumford & Sons. Say goodbye to the banjos, off-beat bass drums, and folk music, because they picked up electric guitars and added an urban feel to their third album, Wilder Mind. I seem to be in the minority in thinking that this is a great change for the band - it's a livelier sound and if anything, accents the harmonies more in each song. Let's get to it.1. Tompkins Square Park. Honestly could be the best song on the album. It's edgy, it's blunt, and it makes me want to drive faster than the speed limit through a city with tall buildings and bright lights. Granted, I may be taking that right from the album cover, but it doesn't make it not true.
Favorite part: The guitars in the chorus. Easy to follow along to, and now with distortion!
2. Believe. If you know Bon Iver well, you may think that this song resembles "Minnesota, WI," and it's because of the bass guitar and atmospheric nature of the song. Even the drums during the bridge seem Justin Vernon-y. I do wish they went with a little more gusto at 3:10, but there's enough in here, I suppose.
Favorite part: The Bon Iver bass guitar at 1:06.
3. The Wolf. SO CATCHY. If this song were on Sigh No More or Babel, people would dance to it like this. Now, the chorus seems closer to a Coldplay concert than a summer festival song. Which is tremendous.
Favorite part: Why wait? Everyone starting at max volume as soon as the song kicks in.
4. Wilder Mind. Can't seem to find a video for this one, so head over to Spotify to check it out. This song seems like the epitome of the let's-stop-the-folk-music thing for M&S, and it's also one of the songs that has the most awesome harmonies in it. Of note - this is the first title track to not lead off the album ("Sigh No More" and "Babel" were each the first song on their respective albums).
Favorite part: The harmonies from 2:29 to 2:48.
5. Just Smoke. There's an interesting phenomenon on YouTube, which I fully support them cracking down on. To avoid copyright infringement, YouTube uploaders will change the speed and pitch of the song. Which sucks, I would much rather go even more out of my way to find the right version of the song. Again, Spotify is great for this one. It has a great flow to it, a hand-outside-the-vehicle sort of feel.
Favorite part: When you realize it's in 3/4 instead of 4/4. Engage hand-flowing.
6. Monster. There's something about this song that makes it very chill. A perfect driving-home-at-the-end-of-the-night song. (Aside - starting to fall in love with the idea that each song has a certain mood associated with it, or perfect time to listen to it. I may have believed this all along, but it seems more pronounced now.) M&S also chose this as the one song on the album to have the f-word as one of the lyrics. They're following PG-13 guidelines it seems, since each album has only one song where they do this. Very interesting.
Favorite part: No part particularly better than any other, I like it all.
7. Snake Eyes. Amazing song. I don't think any M&S song is going to ever touch "Awake My Soul" as the best/my favorite, but this song seems to be the most delicate on the album. Another perfect-harmony song. I can't even imagine how awesome this song is live.
Favorite part: The second chorus, before they get back into it, the drumsticks acting like a ticking clock.
8. Broad-Shouldered Beasts. If I had to pick a song on this album that incites the "chain is as strong as its weakest link" metaphor, it might be this one. There's nothing wrong with that, I said if I had to. Maybe I haven't heard this song enough times yet, but maybe that's exactly the point. I'll concede to the "every M&S song sounds the same" group that this one may sound like some others.
Favorite part: The first lyrics, and the accompanying music.
9. Cold Arms. Now this would be a good live song. My guess is that it's the second song of the encore. Seems like a great, let's-all-stand-on-one-small-stage-and-sing-with-one-guitar song to split up two very upbeat encore songs ("The Cave" and "The Wolf," maybe? I want to write setlists for a living (at least in this moment)).
Favorite part: The half-step increases in the chorus.
10. Ditmas. Not as much of this album is as upbeat as I'd expect with M&S, but this song brings it back to faster times after a few mellow songs. It definitely adds to the urban feel of things, bright lights and city sights and all that jazz.
Favorite part: The crashing cymbals in the chorus.
11. Only Love. Solid penultimate song. I do love the gradual buildup. You can definitely tell something big is going to happen, especially with the guitars in the background sounding like shooting stars midway through, and then BAM it's upbeat and fast and you want to run 100 miles per hour. I have no idea what this song is about, but it sounds like some sort of Benjamin Button reverse-life thing - some slow lament in the beginning, but then a youthful injection to finish it out.
Favorite part: Said buildup and switch from a slow to fast song.
12. Hot Gates. Absolutely love the harmonies in this song. I stand by my statement that the harmonies are what make this album what it is. M&S has always had harmonies, sure, but it's always been in faster times. This album seems more focused, more careful, and the harmonies are what I've been able to tease out the most.
Favorite part: The main harmony during the verses.
I just realized that each of their albums (deluxe editions notwithstanding) have 12 songs. Coincidence? I'm not sure. But Wilder Mind is certainly a different set of 12 songs than anything we've heard from Mumford & Sons in the past. I'm all for the change, and hopefully you are too. Thanks for reading and thanks for listening!
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