Review Summary: Now with Denim and Leather!
It's a platitude that bears repeating: Indie rock has changed dramatically since Mumford & Sons last bored us to the insufferable tune of
Babel. At the time, floor toms and instruments that kind of looked like guitars but weren't were all the rage, and it seemed as if every label wanted their own goatee-clad, faux-folk rockers. Nowadays, the likes of American Authors hold the mantle, somehow further watering down a concept in itself so loose that you're left to wonder what integrity was there to be washed out in the first place. Mumford & Sons have seen the consequence and happily redacted much of their persona ("We looked like absolute idiots."), now mincing around in skinny jeans to the sound of U2-sized anthems. Predictably, the superficial changes have done little to elevate already tiring songwriting.
Of course, Mumford & Sons' tepid songwriting has never been their worst quality; it's been their propensity for suspenders and put-on London brogues. Changing into a leather jacket and ill-fitting jeans therefore alleviates only some issues for the band's already tiring formula. While lead single "Believe" would imply that they've merely opted for beige theatrics in the vein of Coldplay, the genesis of
Wilder Mind lies more in the literate and confessional ilk of The National and Sufjan Stevens. It's certainly welcome that Marc Mumford would trade insipid melodies and banjo plucks for opulence and electricity, but far too often does
Wilder Mind fall into stadium rock cliché. Despite claims from both the band and the
NME that the change would be so radical as to alienate a large portion of their fans,
Wilder Mind is just a lateral move that serves to prove that Mumford & Sons have always been boring songwriters no matter how they dress. Wilder experimentation is forsaken in favour of stadium tropes already done better by Arcade Fire; that being said, it's probably for the best that we miss out on Mumford spitting bars over a 10-minute heavy metal rifforama.
Wilder Mind's undeniable highlight though stands as "The Wolf", a competent enough attempt at hard rock that will likely be forgotten when it comes to live shows and compilations. Instead,
Wilder Mind is crammed to the brim with tracks such as "Snake Eyes" and "Broad-Shouldered Beasts", unoriginal stadium anthems that sound akin to Adam Granduciel in a more uninspired moment.
Critics will attempt to categorize
Wilder Mind as the album for people who don't like Mumford & Sons; that's simply not true. Even if it's got a fresh lick of paint, the wallpaper does little to hide the fact that Mumford & Sons don't write impressive songs. There's nothing new or innovative to behold, because in the end,
Wilder Mind is just the sound of a terrible band becoming an average one. It doesn't encourage the same introversion
High Violet manages, nor does it evoke nostalgia quite like
Lost in the Dream. What it does is float indifferently above a cesspool of already disinteresting ideas while wearing designer apparel. Then again, maybe this sort of bilge looks alright in denim and leather.
