Album Review: Mumford and Sons - Babel

Artist: Mumford and SonsAlbum: BabelRelease Date: September 25, 2012Label: GlassnoteMumford and Sons' Babel places the band in a position we're all familiar with. They're the acoustic-bound country bumpkins who concede their faults and inferiority to those they love. It's clear, from this truthful and humble collection of songs, that despite Mumford and Sons' commercial success, they're just like everyone else (underdogs, even), victims of romantic circumstance, optimistically holding onto whatever faith they have left. As if to prove how honest and hardworking they are, the word "heart" is included multiple times in nine out of Babel's twelve songs. The other three songs reference a slew of body parts including, but not limited to, bellies, tongues, mouths, flesh, arms, and feet. Perhaps the band felt that alluding to body parts emphasized the self and natural use of the body without outside assistance. The imagery evokes a certain rawness one wouldn't feel if Marcus Mumford discussed these metaphorical hands interacting with lawnmowers and Nintendo 64s.Though, Mumford and Sons were much better at portraying this heavily marketed image on their 2009 debut Sigh No More. While one could easily picture the gang clad in vests and cowboy hats performing "Little Lion Man" on the side of a country road, Babel songs like "Lover of the Light" evoke more of a "Make some noise, Los Angeles!"-arena jam performed for fans eager to pay ridiculously high ticket prices. And therein lies the primary reason Mumford and Sons failed on their sophomore effort; Babel doesn't perfectly encapsulate the image that keeps Sigh No More at Number 30 the Billboard Top 200 after 140 consecutive weeks. The fact that Mumford and Sons contradict their own image through over-production that screams "We're trying to relate to all you little people," is really what makes this record so laughable.That said, there are plenty of other cringe-worthy moments on Babel. It begins with the title track, featuring Marcus Mumford’s newly gritty vocals to express his fervor. The song is loud, abrasive, and pretty driving for a Mumford and Sons cut. That alone may be why "Babel" is one of the better songs on the album; it’s a pretty interesting listen. But, while "Babel" at least attempts to use imagery and a less-than-cliche structure, the remainder of the album almost entirely reverts to a very predictable and tired form, a destructive habit leftover from Sigh No More. Enter acoustic guitar and welcoming, but timid vocals, turn up the volume a little bit for the chorus, build up to a banjo-driven breakdown, and occasionally throw in some anthemic "ahs." Such a fallacy might be precisely why the band is so listenable, though. With a little help from a lyrics website, I was able to sing along to half the songs by the second chorus, and you can too! Once again, Mumford and Sons has made an art of dressing up pop in dust and banjos, but they're just not very good at it this time.Now that the music is bigger and louder, lyrics like "So give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light/ 'Cause, oh, that gave me such a fright" and "This ain't no sham/ I am what I am" stand out as desperate and goofy attempts to grab at words for the sake of rhyming hooks as opposed to providing songs  with meaning. That'd be all fine and dandy if Mumford and Sons made it obvious that their songs aren't supposed to mean anything deeper past the shallowest remarks about the most basic human emotions. Such an implication is already tacked onto most run-of-the-mill pop music (take Ke$ha for instance), but it’s ultimately lost when the lines between folk and pop are blurred. Then, as if to prove that they do, in fact, have some spectrum of emotion, Mumford and Sons drop the F-bomb on "Broken Cown" in the oft-repeated line "I took the road, and I fucked it all the way." The line is packed with purpose, but the purpose is to feign intent.But, to be fair, Mumford and Sons are indeed talented musicians. There isn’t a single sour note on the album, the majority of the hooks are pretty catchy, and I dare say that a couple of the songs, including “Hopeless Wanderer,” are decent examples of what Mumford and Sons can do really well.Now, looking back, while I completely wrote off Sigh No More as a self-indulging attempt to capitalize on pop music under the noses of susceptible listeners, there's no doubt in my mind that Mumford and Sons knew what they were doing, and they did it well. Three years later, though, the band is trying to do it again, but with the taste of success still fresh in their “hearts,” the authenticity in their inauthenticity is running dry, and I'm sighing more than ever.Rating (by pizza size):10″ (small pie)12″ (medium pie)14″ (large pie)16″ (X-large pie)18″ (Really big pizza)