From the first thumping beat of guitar, Mumford and Sons’ latest album Babel, released Tuesday, Sept. 25, brings head-nodding music that keeps you smiling for through all 12 songs. The band, made up of Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford, and Winston Marshall, formed in 2007 and released their first album Sigh No More in 2009.
The album starts with the title track “Babel“, showing off their interesting and meaningful lyrics with a powerful melody. With lyrics like, “Press my nose up to the glass around your heart, I should’ve known I was weaker from the start,” the meanings resonate on a level deeper than most popular music today.
All their songs could be considered love songs, but they talk more of human relationships and hope rather than lamenting a past love. Today, so many songs are sappy breakup numbers or proclamations of true or superficial love (think Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” or One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful”), which are fun to listen to and have nothing wrong with them. That said, it’s refreshing to have songs dealing with  powerful emotions that do happen to everyone, but don’t subtract from the glory of the song.
Particularly with this album, the songs radiate hope and encourage the listener to keep going. In the track “Ghosts That We Knew,” Mumford sings, “So give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light, coz oh they gave me such a fright,” making you think about the meaning but then understand and relate.
Even though some of the songs have similar tunes and may blend together, the common tones simply bring an even stronger trademark to the band. The strong beat of bass drum, guitar, keyboard and banjo that appear in almost every song make Mumford and Sons recognizable from the first few seconds of their songs.
With Babel and Babel (Deluxe Edition) already No. 1 and 2 on the iTunes Top 10 Albums chart, the album is sure to have much success.
The music makes you feel too good inside to turn it off.
By Maddie Magruder