Mumford & Sons will release their third album, Wilder Mind, on May 4.
The LP was recorded at Air Studios, London produced by James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, HAIM, Florence & The Machine). It will be issued on Glassnote Records in the US and Gentlemen Of The Road/Island Records in the UK – and preceded by a new single, Believe, on April 27.
A number of the new songs were written and demo’d at Aaron Dessner’s (The National) garage studios in Brooklyn. The band also returned to Eastcote Studios in London, where they recorded Sigh No More, for further writing and demo sessions.
Marcus Mumford said that the album, which comes after the band’s record-breaking Babel in 2012, is “a development, not a departure”. He added: “I think all of us had this desire to shake it up… The songwriting hasn’t changed drastically; it was led more by a desire to not do the same thing again. Plus, we fell back in love with drums!”
And ‘not doing the same thing again’ means ditching what up till now has been one of Mumford & Sons’ signature instruments.
“Towards the end of the Babel tour, we’d always play new songs during soundchecks, and none of them featured the banjo, or a kick-drum,” added Mumford. “Demoing with Aaron [Dessner, The National] meant that, when we took a break, we knew it wasn’t going to involve acoustic instruments.”
“It felt completely natural,” said Ben Lovett, “like it did when we started out. It was very much a case of, if someone was playing an electric guitar, drums were going to complement that best; and, sonically, it then made sense to add a synth or an organ. We chose instruments that played well off each other, rather than consciously trying to overhaul it.”
The record will be previewed on new US and UK ‘Gentlemen of the Road Presents…’ dates in June, July and August.
Joining the band on these ‘Stopovers’ will be the likes of The Foo Fighters, Primal Scream, The Flaming Lips, Ben Howard, The Vaccines, Simian Mobile Disco DJs, The Maccabees, My Morning Jacket, Alabama Shakes, Dawes, Lianne La Havas, and Jenny Lewis.
Read the tracklisting, Gentlemen Of the Road Tour details and watch a teaser video for the new release below.
Wilder Mind: Tracklisting
1. Tompkins Square Park
2. Believe
3. The Wolf
4. Wilder Mind
5. Just Smoke
6. Monster
7. Snake Eyes
8. Broad-Shouldered Beasts
9. Cold Arms
10. Ditmas
11. Only Love
12. Hot Gates
Gentlemen Of The Road Presents… Stopovers: Tour dates
Seaside Heights, New Jersey, USA 5th June + 6th June – Mumford & Sons, The Flaming Lips, Alabama Shakes, The Vaccines, The Maccabees, Dawes, The Very Best, Jenny Lewis, Little May, JEFF The Brotherhood, Blake Mills + more TBC
Waverly, Iowa, USA 19th June + 20th June – Mumford & Sons, The Flaming Lips, My Morning Jacket, Dawes, Jenny Lewis, The Maccabees, The Very Best, Rubblebucket, JEFF The Brotherhood, Blake Mills + more TBC
Aviemore, Scotland, UK 31st July + 1st August – Mumford & Sons, Ben Howard, Primal Scream, The Maccabees, Simian Mobile Disco DJs, Lianne La Havas, Jack Garratt, King Charles, Honeyblood + more TBC
Walla Walla, Washington, USA 14th August + 15th August – Mumford & Sons, Foo Fighters, The Flaming Lips, The Vaccines, Dawes, Jenny Lewis, TuneYards, James Vincent McMorrow, JEFF The Brotherhood, Blake Mills + more TBC
Salida, Colorado, USA 21st August + 22nd August – Mumford & Sons, The Flaming Lips, Dawes, Jenny Lewis, The Vaccines, TuneYards, James Vincent McMorrow, JEFF The Brotherhood, Blake Mills + more TBC
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