<\/p>\n
By ELISE RYAN<\/strong><\/p>\n Less than a year since the release of Mumford & Sons\u2019 long-awaited fifth studio album \u201cRushmere,\u201d<\/a> the English folk rock band is back with a sixth: \u201cPrizefighter,\u201d an introspective but still upbeat return to their stomp-clap form, now bolstered by new voices.<\/p>\n The album finds the band, made up of lead singer Marcus Mumford, Ted Dwane and Ben Lovett, alongside many collaborators. Aaron Dessner of The National coproduces all 14 tracks; features from Chris Stapleton<\/a>, Gigi Perez of \u201cSailor Song\u201d viral fame, Hozier<\/a> and Gracie Abrams<\/a> punctuate the album. Brandi Carlile<\/a>, Finneas<\/a>, Kevin Garrett, Jon Bellion and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver<\/a> round out the writing credits, alongside Dessner and the band.<\/p>\n\n Carlile provided inspiration for the single \u201cRubber Band Man,\u201d a banjo and acoustic guitar-set reflection on flexibility and recovery featuring verses from Hozier. (Mumford said<\/a> lyrics for the song came to Carlile in a dream.)<\/p>\n Hozier\u2019s verse, lyrically dense but sonically open, distills the song\u2019s thesis: \u201cBut don\u2019t hold to yourself \/ With hard mortar and stone \/ Be a rubber band man \/ Make the water your bones.\u201d<\/p>\n There are some worthy additions to the band\u2019s canon between those features: \u201cBegin Again\u201d and \u201cStay\u201d are fast-paced and earnest while the poetic closer \u201cClover\u201d sees Mumford fall into a lullaby-like pace that, sung atop a piano melody, recalls the aching movie musical hit \u201cFalling Slowly\u201d by Glen Hansard and Mark\u00e9ta Irglov\u00e1. \u201cConversation With My Son (Gangsters & Angels)\u201d is lyrically repetitive, but still moving.<\/p>\n The feature tracks feel like tentpoles for the project, offering unique and memorable takes on the genre when other songs start to blend together. \u201cHere,\u201d with Stapleton, is the simplest, opening the album with a country-tinged, guitar and drum-forward ballad. Abrams\u2019 whisper-sung tones add layers to Mumford\u2019s on \u201cBadlands.\u201d The lyrics have a sentiment the two artists likely share, a desire to push limits: \u201cRunning away from a tame life \/ Running away like a wild child \/ Give me a vision, give me a dime.\u201d<\/p>\n Perez\u2019s rich vocals demand attention in the soaring duet \u201cIcarus.\u201d After Mumford\u2019s introduction, Perez offers a warning over piano and guitar. \u201cYou\u2019re a fool, you\u2019re a climber \/ You shoulda called it a night.\u201d Perez and the band sing together at the song\u2019s climax \u2014 also, the album\u2019s climax \u2014 shakers, maracas and synth bass filling out the track. \u201cI was blinded, I was in love,\u201d they sing together. \u201cBut then all at once \/ I was back to where I begun \/ I was burned by morning \/ I got too close to the sun.\u201d<\/p>\n This collaborative approach reflects the spirit of Mumford & Sons\u2019 unique summer tour last year, which saw the group travel by train from Louisiana to Vermont with dozens of musicians and crew, continuing a journey started during a 2011 version of the Railroad Revival Tour. Stops along the way brought out the likes of Nathaniel Rateliff, Trombone Shorty, Lucius, Chris Thile, Maggie Rogers, Noah Kahan and Lainey Wilson, among others. Onstage together, they sang a mix of the band\u2019s songs, featured guests\u2019 songs and other covers.<\/p>\n As the band sings (together) on the uplifting \u201cRun Together\u201d: \u201cBut when we run we run together \/ When we\u2019re apart we fall apart.\u201d Collaboration is king.<\/p>\n \u201cPrizefighter\u201d by Mumford & Sons<\/p>\n Three and a half stars out of five.<\/p>\n On repeat: \u201cIcarus (with Gigi Perez),\u201d \u201cBegin Again\u201d<\/p>\n Skip it: \u201cAlleycat,\u201d \u201cI\u2019ll Tell You Everything\u201d<\/p>\n For fans of: Aaron Dessner\u2019s production universe, like Brandi Carlile\u2019s \u201cReturning to Myself,\u201d<\/a> Laufey\u2019s \u201cA Matter of Time,\u201d<\/a> Gracie Abrams\u2019 \u201cThe Secret Of Us\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.bostonherald.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By ELISE RYAN Less than a year since the release of Mumford & Sons\u2019 long-awaited fifth studio album \u201cRushmere,\u201d the English folk rock band is back with a sixth: \u201cPrizefighter,\u201d an introspective but still upbeat return to their stomp-clap form, now bolstered by new voices. The album finds the band, made up of lead singer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2289615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[343013,345029,104485,371464,349942,403240],"class_list":["post-2289614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-aaron-dessner","tag-gigi-perez","tag-gracie-abrams","tag-hozier","tag-mumford-sons","tag-prizefighter"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Mumford-Sons-finds-a-new-folk-rhythm-on-Prizefighter.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2289614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2289614"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2289614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2289616,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2289614\/revisions\/2289616"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2289615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2289614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2289614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2289614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}