They've been dormant since 2013 and now their about to erupt onto the music world once more. This time abandoning the banjos, fiddles and folk style with the birth of a new rock sound, which may replace all we first thought about David Cameron’s favourite festive album artists.
'Wilder Mind' is a big change. A step away from folk music. A step away from daft outfits. A huge leap towards headling Reading and Leeds.
In 2013 Mumford and Sons announced a hiatus for "considerable amount of time." At that point in time, after winning a Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement, two Grammys - one for Babel as the 2012 Album of the Year - and two Brits in 2011 for Sigh No More as the British Album of the Year and Best British Group, no one could see what was to come.
Prior to 'Wilder Mind', the band seemed to be trapped in a scene where the world fell in love with their heartfelt folk music, while their ideas about being a rock band were oppressed by a public love affair. However the 2013 - 2015 hiatus has given them the chance to show off who they really are. No one could stop them from changing and thank goodness no one did.
'Wilder Mind' is a triumph. It seems to be bands victory, over coming their original stereotype and achieving something much more personal sounding. 'Babel' and 'Sigh No More' are incredible albums, shown when Babel debut at number one in the UK albums chart and in the US Billboard Chart in 2012. It was the biggest selling album of 2012, selling over 158,000 copies in the first week of its release.'Wilder Mind' is different from their previous albums, however it is a good type of different. The singles 'Snake Eyes', 'The Wolf' and 'Believe' have been accepted well enough with a few fans reminiscing in the old sound that the band have lost.
Its still heart felt and just as meaningful as the previous two albums but the band now are happier with their sound, now that they've been liberated from their folk sound.
In 2013 the band headlined T in the Park alongside Rhianna and the Killers. This year their headling Reading and Leeds, which Mumford told NME is
'a dream come true'.
Wilder Mind is out on the 4th of May on Island records.