3 Modern Folk Classics by Mumford & Sons

Mumford & Sons will release their fifth album Rushmere on March 28.

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The title shares its name with a pond in southwest London where the band formed. After a seven-year break between albums and a solo offering (Self-Titled) from singer Marcus Mumford, the group teamed with producer Dave Cobb on this new collection.

Since debuting in 2009 with Sigh No More, Mumford & Sons has delivered British folk-rock to pop audiences and helped ignite a global revival in old-world music. They also paved the way for an artist like Noah Kahan and his 2022 breakthrough album Stick Season.

If you are Mumford & Sons-curious, the three songs below offer a window into their catalog.

“Little Lion Man” from Sigh No More (2009)

This debut single introduced the British group’s uptempo and anxious folk music. Though the sound and aesthetic are quaint, the track is anything but. “Little Lion Man” aims to skip the coffeehouse and land straight into the stadium. Producer Markus Dravs engineered the kind of now-or-never urgency he brought to hit albums by Arcade Fire and Coldplay.

Weep for yourself, my man
You’ll never be what is in your heart
Weep, little lion man
You’re not as brave as you were at the start

“I Will Wait” from Babel (2012)

Another defining track for Mumford & Sons, but also the 2010s. It might be Marcus Mumford’s “Wonderwall” or “Yellow.” With a four-on-the-floor kick drum, shouted hook, and high-speed arpeggios, Mumford offers a promise. At once personal and universal. Lyrically, he sings of release. And that’s exactly what the music offers. Like much of the band’s music, it’s powered by ex-bandmate Winston Marshall’s earnest banjo. Babel took home the GRAMMY for Album of the Year.

So break my step and relent
Well you forgave and I won’t forget
Know what we’ve seen and him with less
Now in some way, shake the excess

“The Cave” from Sigh No More (2009)

Another stadium burner equally at home in the pub. If you’ve spent any time under the thatching of an English pub, you can imagine the scene. Warm cask beer spills over counters and onto floors as punters shout “The Cave” at the top of their lungs. Mumford & Sons also craft songs perfectly suited for film and TV. This one appeared during the World Cup 2010 and in the British comedy Skins.

But I will hold on hope
And I won’t let you choke
On the noose around your neck
And I’ll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I’ll know my name as it’s called again

Photo by Michael P. Farrell/Albany Times Union via Getty Images