What does an electrified Mumford and Sons sound like? Less like a thrashing Foo Fighters and more like, well, Coldplay. After announcing its third studio album last week, today (March 9), Mumford and Sons released the lead single from its "electric" album Wilder Mind at iHeartRadio in the U.S. and BBC Radio 1 in the U.K., and "Believe" is nothing like we've ever heard from the guys who brought back folk music into the modern era.
Gone are the days of stones, cold hearts, banjos and suspenders. Instead, Marcus Mumford and his sons swapped out their string basses for synthesizers, plugged in their guitars and added *gasp* a drum into the mix.
The rolling flow of the track help to make something about "Believe" feel familiar, but the keyboards sound remarkably like recent Coldplay efforts and the shredding guitar pulls in that heavy U2 influence that Mumford teased about in a recent Rolling Stone profile. Before now, only The Edge could really shred like that.
Mumford's raspy, heartfelt voice is still intact, but that's the only remnant of the Mumford that was in "Believe." Though the glitzy production puts him low in the mix, just barely above a steady drumbeat and twinkling synthesizers, his soul is still there and that's what helps to make this unfamiliar song work and connect to any past effort from the band.
Is it bad? Not really. Is it good? Maybe. For now, "Believe" is just remarkably different. It's going to be an interesting 2015 for Mumford and Sons, ya better believe it.
Listen to the new Mumford and Sons single "Believe" below:
"Believe" is the lead single from Mumford and Sons' new album Wilder Mind, which is due to be released on May 4.
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