At the center of every album is a musical thesis. Sometimes that thesis is about changing everything. Bob Dylan did it when he went electric. Ray Charles did it with “Georgia on My Mind.” Now, Mumford & Sons have done it with “Wilder Mind.” Perhaps they saw the writing on the wall. The days of foot stomping folk music couldn’t last forever. The American populace cannot hold their attention for that long. Needing to adapt and evolve, they picked up electric guitars; something I wanted to see happen on “Babel.” As they fulfilled my wish, they displayed a slow and steady progress. For those of us who have been listening, the lyrical content and religious imagery displayed against a backdrop of the real world is what led us to this band. Not much has changed in that regard. The presentation is different though and as far as I am concerned, that is a move in the right direction. The thesis here was change or die. After listening to this over and over, I am not worried about this band going anywhere anytime soon.
Be good to each other,
-Nathan