Mumford and Sons' "Delta"- Album Review


By Michael Momper

 Picture if you will a woman you have just laid eyes upon for the first time, a woman who absolutely takes your breath away. She is one of the most gorgeous women you have ever laid eyes upon, and with her image comes the faint hope that she could possibly be yours and be as good as you are imagining. You continue to gaze her way, thinking that she must be some kind of angel as she moves with the grace of a swan and you think to yourself that you have never seen something like this before, and you are completely caught off guard. You approach her to strike up a conversation, and find out if your hopes and dreams could somehow be exceeded with an equally unmatched depth of personality to match her striking beauty.

However, your hopes are soon to be dashed as the inevitable truth comes forth- she double majored in anthropology and women's studies. She's an obnoxious and self-righteous vegan. She has a tramp stamp of Nickelback. She only drinks Redd's Apple Ale and says you are a murderer for eating a cheeseburger... and she wants you to pay for her drinks and fully expects you to give her a ride. Your heart has been trampled on with the strength of a small safari and your trust of strangers is strained now indefinitely. It is this crushing of trust and this magnitude of disappointment which I unfortunately must report to you upon my listen of the latest Mumford and Sons album, "Delta".

The bands' first two albums, "Sigh No More" and "Babel", were absolute triumphs in the folk world. Songs like "Little Lion Man" and "I Will Wait" absolutely ruled the airwaves, an incredible feat for a folk band. Their simple acoustic arrangements and obvious passion for their songs was extremely attractive. Marcus Mumford's voice was comforting and conveyed real authenticity. The train went completely off the rails on their 2015 album "Wilder Mind"- it wasn't just the lack of their trademark banjos that made me upset, but rather an absolutely bland songwriting approach with airy synthesizers and an overly emotional delivery from Marcus Mumford blathering on about strained love. It was all too much.

These poor qualities were "turned up to 11", as it were, for their latest album, "Delta". I am speechless. This is pure and utter garbage, written completely to cater to an arena-rock crowd. I can absolutely picture in my head where Marcus and the boys intended for lights to flash and screens to burst with color on the stage. It is that patently obvious and pandering, an album full of extremely tired lyrical cliches about "being still" and "holding my breath" and "holding on a little longer". "You will find me on my knees for you/ It's never more than I can take/ I wouldn't have it any other way". I am legitimately laughing out loud while typing this. These are Ed Sheeran-style relationship lyrics! I could see so many of these lyrics posted in a flowery Facebook banner or on a teenage girl's makeup shelf covered with school post-it notes and to never receive another glance.

This album is a pathetic attempt at being atmospheric. Every song blends into the next, with non-stop bland keyboards, muted guitar, electronic drumming and fake snapping. There are plenty of millenial "whoas" and "oohs" to be found, and the piano is completely sterile and lifeless. Not only is this not groundbreaking for the pop charts, it's even behind the times on that front, as this album was made seemingly just to be anthemically blasted at live audiences for a big overly-emotional light show. There is so little emotion in the often soft and quiet vocal delivery. It seems very over-produced and, to my utmost surprise as it is a word I never thought I would use to describe them, even boring!

Please do yourself a favor and skip this album. I'm sure in five years the band will thank you for it. This is a product of fads and laziness. It will be buried under a sea of similar pop music before long, right where it belongs. There is nothing here I can mention that is at all salvageable. Perhaps you will like a couple songs from it. I wish I could say I did and could give you direction as to the ones I recommend... but alas, it is not so. Avoid these musical tramp stamp at all costs.

Rating: 15/100



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