It’s been some time since the U.K. folk-rock act Mumford & Sons have been in the public eye. While relatively prolific in the 2010s, the group slowed down in the 2020s, waiting until 2025 to release their fifth album “Rushmere.”
But the band quickly followed up with the release of “Prizefighter” on Friday, Feb. 20. Unlike their prior efforts, it’s a guest-heavy effort with Aaron Dessner’s production, writing credits from both Finneas and Brandi Carlile and plenty of features from popular contemporary folk-pop stars.
Country star Chris Stapleton makes the first appearance on the opener “Here,” a duet with lead vocalist Marcus Mumford. In alternating verses and a shared chorus, the two men present all their emotional shortcomings and baggage and put it on the table — a preview of the album’s themes of reflection and growth. While the mixing feels flat with a distinct lack of instrumental texture, the track is catchy enough to invite listeners into the album.
“Here” also begins the album’s trend of the guest artists overshadowing the vocal contributions from Mumford & Sons. Stapleton’s voice sounds less raw than typical, but still exudes more emotion than Mumford, whose pitch-corrected singing sterilizes any conviction that might have been there. It’s a different vocal style from Mumford & Sons’ earlier days where they sounded more acoustic and loose.
Lead single “Rubber Band Man” brings a bit more to the table, opening with catchy fingerstyle acoustic guitar and jubilant swells in the chorus. Hozier makes an appearance, and while his harmonies with the chorus don’t offer much, the soft delivery of his verse is one of the most tender and genuine moments on the album.
The track is almost great, but the writing holds it back. The chorus opens with the lines “You’re a world away / But you’re still the same” and ends with the even more overused sentiment “Nothing lasts forever, babe / You know it breaks my heart.” There’s no end of lyrics that have already been said a million times across the album, and “Rubber Band Man” isn’t even the most egregious. The mountain of cliches makes it hard to get invested in any of these songs, whether they’re trying to communicate sadness or catharsis.
Take “Run Together,” which builds layers of vocal harmonies, strings and synths atop calming banjo to communicate a sense of adventuring. The band maintains a good ebb and flow of the louder and quieter moments, staying spirited and engaging. But the chorus, built around the lines “When we run, we run together / When we’re apart, we fall apart / I will love you, now and ever,” fails tocommunicate anything meaningful. What could’ve been a defining anthem shrinks into a jumble of phrases of unoriginality that won’tmake you want to run anywhere.
The band does the best job minimizing these sonic and lyrical issues on “Conversation With My Son (Gangsters & Angels)”, which unravels as a parent telling a message to their child. The presence of musician Amelia Meath enlivens the harmonies that fill what begins as a mellow folk composition. But everything swells exponentially on the ending refrain, which builds into the most cinematic and emotionally resonant point of the album.
The title track takes a quieter approach than the rest of the album. Mumford sounds tired and worn down as he reflects on a past relationship and where he might’ve ended up if it hadn’t ended. While it moves slowly, the harmonies with guest vocals from Justin Vernon, frontman of Bon Iver, ensures it doesn’t get too boring.
The ninth track, “Icarus,” uses the Greek myth of Daedalus — who fashioned wings for himself and his son Icarus to escape imprisonment, only for his son’s wings to melt upon flying too close to the sun — to trace a love story. The song starts awkwardly, with both Mumford and the featured Gigi Perez, who exploded in 2024 with her song “Sailor Song,” singing louder than the instruments demand. But it soon develops into a heavier rock sound that lets Perez really let loose with her powerful singing.
While most of the featured artists’ presence make sense given how their own music builds on or relates to Mumford & Sons’ sound, Gracie Abrams’ appearance on “Badlands” feels more random. While Abrams helps give the song life, her vocals don’t fit the best with Mumford during the empty refrain “Don’t look down now / I’m not done here yet.” They mesh better on the slightly more lyrically emphatic chorus, but the track would probably work better as a solo effort from Abrams.
The final run of three tracks might be the strongest connected effort. “Shadow of a Man” comes across with respectable conviction, while “I’ll Tell You Everything” and “Clover” are slower introspective cuts that close the album in a satisfying way.
“Prizefighter” is far from a terrible album, but it’s not great. There are plenty of engaging instrumental moments, but the sterile mixing and plain harmonies make it hard for anything to land. But the biggest downfall is the lack of lyrical nuance and substance, which really takes away from every emotional moment the band tries to get across.
Rating: 2.25/5