Tuesday 2 October 2012

Babel, baby.


I was thinking about Tuesday Tabs but I haven't got a lot to show you in that sense and it seems like a bit of a cop-out considering I haven't posted in a little while. I guess I have a fair bit to talk to you about this week, or certainly a lot of photos to show you anyway. I thought I'd start off by giving the album that saw me through work most of last week a mention, and on it's week and a day anniversary, that album is 'Babel' by Mumford & Sons, and it's wonderful.



Having heard a lot of Mumford & Sons' new material over the last three years since 'Sigh No More' from seeing them at Glastonbury, I wasn't in much doubt that the new album would be good, but it's so much more than that.

On the surface of things, it seems as though the South London quartet have provided us with more of the same, but in reality they've demonstrated a whole heap of growth. Perhaps this isn't as obvious musically, although they've done a good job of tricking us into thinking that they're more 'upbeat' now. This change is most noticeable in terms of lyrical content, they're much tighter, and concise. 'Sigh No More' has been an album I've consistently listened to since it's release so I don't think it would be honest of me to criticise it but anything that demonstrated less experience on their previous album has been blown out of the water by three years work with 'Babel'.



My stand-out tracks are 'Lover of the Light' and 'Ghosts That We Knew', but I enjoy the whole album thoroughly. They've cemented themselves more firmly than before as one of my favourite bands and it will be great to see them in a gig-setting again in November. The leap they've made is fantastic, from the tiny weepy band I saw supporting The Maccabees back in 2009 to world famous musicians playing arenas and cracking the USA, it's incredible and I feel weirdly proud of them.

It's no wonder that they cracked the number one album spot last week, or that it was one of the biggest selling debut albums ever. Not bad for four guys from Wimbledon.

The physical album is so pretty, filled with whimsical images and 'on the road' snapshots. I pre-ordered the deluxe version and received a limited edition 'Babel' print - I got 340/1500! - and will go great alongside Moon's Frightened Rabbit 'State Hospital' print in our bedroom, as that's the next part of the flat we're planning on putting our stamp on. I was worried that they might have copped out on this but the quality is lovely and has one of my favourite animals on it so I can't wait to pop it in a frame.


Have you had a listen of Mumford & Sons new album? Will you be seeing them on tour in November, I definitely think it's been well worth the wait!

Moon wrote a review on the site that he writes for, and it's a little better than mine, I recommend that you check it out!

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing this - I really want to pick this up! I've been listening to a few songs on youtube and they're excellent x

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