‘Rushmere’ album cover
COURTESY | SPOTIFY
“Rushmere,” British indie-rock band Mumford and Sons’ fifth studio album released March 28, plays like a beloved but flawed childhood movie, heavy on nostalgia, exhilarating at its high points, but with plenty of opportunities to doze off.
One of my favorite parts of returning home from college is revisiting beloved but flawed childhood movies. Sometimes, however, my nostalgia for these cinematic masterpieces has exaggerated their real quality. But, I can never resist a rewatch. I listened to Mumford and Sons’ new album with a similar cautious excitement.
Mumford and Sons have dominated the indie rock scene (and my family’s kitchen) since the release of “Sigh No More” in 2010 and the resulting radio dominance of the song “Little Lion Man.” But in recent years the band has suffered a drought. Seven years have passed since the release of the album “Delta,” which, although it had its high points in “Wild Heart” and “Beloved,” was ultimately disappointing.
Thankfully, with the advent of “Rushmere,” fans will find the drought is over.
“Rushmere,” the single released ahead of the album and its third track, surpassed all expectations. The name comes from a childhood hangout spot where the members first conceived of their band. The song uses striking imagery to evoke that teenage feeling of restlessness: “Don’t you miss the breathlessness / the wildness in the eye? / Bloodshot dreams under streetlight spells / A truth no one can tell / when I was still a stranger to myself.” The chorus of “Rushmere” shows the redemptive optimism of Mumford and Sons, which saves their music from a common pitfall in their genre. To the familiar swell of guitar and banjo, Marcus Mumford himself sings “Light me up I’m wasted in the dark.”
The first track of the album, “Malibu,” is triumphant. The lyrics, “I feel a spirit move in me again / I know it’s the same spirit that still moves in you” hits the nail on the head and seems to have a Christian undertone. From the heartbroken but hopeful verse: “I’m still afraid / I said too much / or not enough.” The song crescendos to the chorus “I’ll find peace beneath the shadow of your wings.”
Throughout the song that lyric repeats in different tones and tempos. In the standout moment, Mumford halts on a syncopated delivery of “wings,” a moment guaranteed to bring tears to the eye of a true fan.
For a more casual listener, the second track, “Caroline,” is a good place to start. It’s an easygoing lost-love song without too much emotional heft. Although the lyric “The stars can keep your secrets / I don’t want to owe them anything” has a certain melancholy ring, this is a catchy but ultimately lightweight song.
The fourth track, “Monochrome,” is a typical slow Mumford and Sons song, a lesser successor to masterpieces like “Timshel,” and “Ghosts That We Knew.” It’s a pleasant listen and the change in the final chorus to “There is Christ in the ground beneath your feet” is satisfying, if not revolutionary.
The next four tracks — the ambitiously named “Truth,” “Where It Belongs,” “Anchor,” and “Surrender” — are impressively average. They lack the unique lyrical and tonal flourishes of the first few songs. Here is where the listener is free to take a metaphorical or literal snack break.
“Blood On The Page,” the second-to-last track on the album, and the only collaboration, snaps the listener back to attention. Mumford and Madison Cunningham, a Grammy-awarded rising star in folk music, weave a haunting harmony together, and, in order to match her ethereal tone, Mumford pushes to the height of his vocal range with surprising vulnerability, most notably (and fittingly) on the line “I am in over my head.”
The final track, “Carry On,” competently delivers what seems to have become a staple Mumford and Sons message which, in comparison to the earlier highs of the album it falls a little flat.
“Rushmere” is a solid album which, although burdened by some filler songs, managed to — at its high points — charm a skeptical fan. Will I return to this album as a whole? Probably not. It does not achieve the unskippable status of “Sigh No More” and “Babel.” But my excitement to hear my favorite songs from “Rushmere” will match my enthusiasm at watching the climactic scene of “Anastasia,” and after so long a hiatus from Mumford and Sons, I can only be grateful.
