MUSIC: Folk Friday {Mumford & Sons}

I found these guys in a weird series of events. They were featured on NPR one night and the next morning I opened our Sunday paper to find a nice little article about them. They are a really cool group of guys, very humble and witty, which can only be expected from a bunch of British lads. They have been called "this generation's answer to Crosby, Stills, and Nash" and likened to another British Invasion band, The Kinks. This is probably due to their use of close harmonies and emphasis on poetic lyrics.

Mumford & Sons are: Marcus Mumford, Country Winston, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane. Their debut album is a highly recommended addition to your growing music collection.

The album begins with the extraordinary title track, Sigh No More, a statement of intent that references the romantic language of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, as they sing: "Love it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you / It will set you free / Be more like the man you were made to be." Amongst darkly reflective tracks such as Thistle & Weeds and ballads like White Blank Page, Winter Winds and Roll Away Your Stone, show the band's sprightlier side, the rollicking banjo of the former conjuring up stormy weather that "litters London with lonely hearts"; the latter a fabulous hoedown about a man unsuccessfully filling the hole in his soul.

Give them a listen: