Mumford & Sons – Prizefighter Music CD

Review

Over the last decade, Mumford & Sons have slowly dismantled the "banjo-core" architecture that once defined them, and Prizefighter, their sixth full-length studio album, may represent the final blow in that transformation. Recorded primarily at producer Aaron Dressner's Long Pond Studios, the new record—their second in just seven months—finds the band fully drawn into the creative gravity of their new collaborator, resulting in a communal, quiet sonic exorcism.

The album begins with its most aggressive statement, "Here," a duet with Chris Stapleton. It is the set's loudest moment, a "final serenade" of contrasts—credit cards and keys, pride and shame, guns and blades—that serves as a blistering, yet mellow, introduction to a set of tunes that feel both alive and well-polished. From there, the collection begins a steady, intentional downshift, moving from Stapleton's grit to a more introspective, spectral landscape.

The list of collaborators includes several other guest vocalists, many of whom have hovered in either the band or Dessner's orbit for some time—Hozier ("Rubber Band Man"), Gigi Perez ("Icarus"), Gracie Abrams ("Badlands") and Justin Vernon ("Prizefighter"), as well as a series of impressive co-writers, including Dessner, Vernon, Brandi Carlile, Jon Bellion, Kevin Garrett, and Finneas.

Dessner's fingerprints are all over the production, but it is Vernon's archangelic presence that provides the emotional marrow. His vocals and songwriting on the album's skeletal title track, "Prizefighter," create a vibe apropos of Bon Iver's breakout For Emma, Forever Ago. The album occasionally channels the anthemic, communal healing of Bruce Springsteen's The Rising. (Ironically, the track "Badlands," a collaboration with Abrams, sounds nothing like Springsteen or the E Street Band. Instead, it is a quiet, piano-led meditation that would fit perfectly on Sufjan Stevens' Carrie and Lowell.)

Prizefighter represents the latest evolution in Mumford & Sons' sound—and it just might be the most compelling.

— Matt Hoffman, Relix

Product Details

Grammy and BRIT award winners, Mumford & Sons return with their 6th studio album 'Prizefighter'. Co-produced by Mumford & Sons and Aaron Dessner, and featuring Hozier, Gracie Abrams, Gigi Perez, and Chris Stapleton. Indie Description: Available on Indie Exclusive 'Icarus' Amber vinyl & signed CD, as well as 'Begin Again' White vinyl, CD & cassette via Glassnote Music. Standard Description: Available on 'Begin Again' White vinyl, CD & cassette via Glassnote Music.