Mumford & Sons

Sigh No More (Glassnote)

By Christine Werthman
Published: March 7th, 2010 | 7:00pm

Marcus Mumford has lots of pent-up emotions that he releases in cliché professions of love on Sigh No More, the debut album from London folkies Mumford & Sons. The first and title track sets the scene with chest-pounding lyrics: “Love / It will not betray you, dismay, or enslave you / It will set you free,” Mumford cries. A moment of this confessional style might be tolerable, but the sentimental slop only continues to thicken with each successive track. “I’ll find strength in pain,” Mumford proclaims on the next song, "The Cave". On the following track, "Winter Winds," he declares, “And my head told my heart / ‘Let love grow,’” as a chorus of brass and drums surrounds him. By the time you hit the fourth song, with the same soft-to-grandiose build of the other tracks, you get the picture. And it isn’t a pretty one.

Though there’s more to hate than love on Sigh No More, there are some things to appreciate about Mumford & Sons, mainly Mumford’s warm and sandpapery vocals. But a decent voice alone cannot save the LP, as its songs all blend together in one big, bloated, emotional heap.

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