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Thursday, May 7, 2015

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com ARTS

New Mumford &

Sons album garners

mixed reactions

By AMELIA ZAK

Daily Music Editor

Life holds no constants. Sur-

rounded by an ever-changing
host of situations, people, weather
and
numerous

other
circum-

stances, we float
in a sea of vari-
ables.
Frost’s

frequently cited
line,
“nothing

gold can stay,”
reflects the feel-
ing best: we can-
not control the
transience. So, amid the shape-
shifting and unidentifiable mark-
ers of incoming situational traffic,
we all must grow and change in
order to survive — and then hope-
fully thrive. But does this ines-
capable condition of the human
experience apply to the music
industry? Must artists change
their sound, technique or style in
order to survive — and then hope-
fully thrive?

Recalling Bob Dylan’s assimi-

lation of the electric guitar in the
late 1960s and ’70s, a troubadour
deity was transformed into an
electric-guitar-wheeling warlord
to the disappointment, anger,
excitement or appreciation of
many. Why did Dylan make this
change? Perhaps he felt it neces-
sary to continue his production of
inspired, original work. Or maybe
Dylan couldn’t deny the attraction
he held toward a sound antitheti-
cal to his acoustic guitar and har-
monica-centered arrangements.

Mumford & Sons made a simi-

lar and equally public transition
that was granted with equal lev-
els of applause and criticism. The
folk fans have rejected Wilder
Mind as a sellout disappointment,
while less invested audiences have
greeted the album with ambiva-
lence. The reaction of the less
invested audience defines the
album best: Although produced
fantastically and flowing seam-
lessly, the album allows the audi-
ence to be relatively indifferent.
Through either the language or
melodies, each track on Wilder
Mind is easily digested upon ini-

tial consumption. To the soft and
hard hearts, the cynics and the
lovers, the casual listener and the
auditorium audience, Mumford
& Sons has always created, at the
very least, universally approach-
able pop music. But unless drawn
in by the emotional, poetic lyrics
of heartache and loss, the Wilder
Mind listener is asked to accept
the same crescendo, the same
electric guitar solo, the same Mar-
cus Mumford melodic scream.

When asked for the source of

the album’s genre departure, the
men of Mumford & Sons cited a
change of location, altered per-
sonal relationships, and greater
access to a myriad of instruments
in the studio (rather than the
limited instrumental resources
of a tour bus). Guided by the pro-
duction styles of James Ford and
Aaron Dessner, and recorded
completely in New York City,
Wilder Mind emerged draped in
Strokes-like guitar solos, with a
touch more angst, leather jackets
and skinny jeans. Even amid these
structural aesthetic changes, the
musical talent of these Brits isn’t
lost. The music is still exciting at
times: Jam-packed with electric
build-ups and subsequent cre-
scendos, trendy bass fills, random
incorporations of a string section
and jarring lyrics of a lost love,

many of the songs recreate the
physiological effects of a quick-
ly-drank Red Bull. The album’s
literature, in fact, appears to be
dedicated to the dramatic, almost
heart-wrenching grappling of a
found, won and then ultimately
lost love.

But these sonic and lyri-

cal trends of Wilder Mind lack
moderation. Each track seems
to follow a formula: contextual
build-up, chorus, more build-
up, a crescendo and satisfying
denouement. “Tompkins Square
Park,” “Believe,” and “The Wolf,”
the album’s entry tracks, follow
this blueprint excessively. While
these high tempos and enthu-
siastic escalations are sure to
be greeted with accolades and
appreciation at the year’s audi-
toriums
and
music
festivals,

analytical listeners and folk fans
suffer. Some respite is granted in
the album’s last tracks: the slower
“Ditmas,” “Only Love” and “Hot
Arms” highlight a more delicate
sound that was once intrinsic to
the Mumford impression. Gone
are the days of the banjo swings
and acoustic guitar ballads for
the folkiers.

Lyrical depth, another innate

item of the Mumford music, limps
along in its emotional effective-
ness on Wilder Mind. The myriad

of references — Shakespearian,
Platonic, Biblical and Steinbeck
— sprinkled throughout 2009’s
Sigh No More and 2012’s Babel
make no similar reappearance in
this 2015 effort. Most lyrical ref-
erences relate the music to areas
of New York City, like a district
of Brooklyn, as in “Ditmas,” or in
the album’s opener, “Tompkins
Square Park.” The final product
is still engaging, but these small
subtractions
in
Wilder
Mind

erode the potential diversity past
albums incorporated.

“So I took you to the city for

the night / to dance under dizzy,
silver lights” sings Marcus Mum-
ford in the verses of the second-
ary, yet undeniably pretty track
“Broad-Shouldered
Beasts.”

Touching and wholesome, many
Wilder Mind tracks reveal that
the signature Mumford brand
of sonic and lyrical imagery
wasn’t completely abolished by
the electric guitar. For better or
for worse, and as a result of the
band’s creative boredom or rein-
vented inspirations, the album’s
sound is more mainstream and
malleable.

As waves of musical electric-

ity replaced the simple acoustic
guitar Dylan plucked over his
gravelly vocal tellings of a lady
who left him tangled up in blue,

many were convinced that Dylan
made his transition for the sake
of greater mainstream recogni-
tion and fandom. He was accused
of giving the people what they
want, because they, and all else
associated with current popular
culture media forums, dictated
the market. But when examined
retrospectively,
Dylan’s
foray

into electronic was successful.
His talents as a musician sur-
passed the strictures set in place
by his audience. Dylan’s persona
as the peace-loving troubadour
belittled his smorgasbord of tal-
ents. Dylan’s electronic days bril-
liantly juxtaposed all that he once
was and all that he was supposed
to be.

Dylan’s changing of musical

avenues isn’t perfectly paralleled
in Mumford’s recent departure,
but similarities must be noted.
The changing of the artist brings
criticism across the spectrum:
from “these boys are sell outs”
to “this is innovative and inter-
esting; bring on the change.”
Nevertheless, these multifaceted
debates belie a mediocre album.
Uninteresting
with
sporadic

moments of radical or inspired
musicality, Wilder Mind is con-
currently the most and least inno-
vative album the men of Mumford
& Sons have produced to date.

Mediocre changes on ‘Wilder Mind’

ALBUM REVIEW

B

Mumford
& Sons

Wilder Mind

Glassnote

MUMFORD & SONS

Does this alley make us look grunge?