A folk rock fever dream that feels a fresh as it does timeless, “Rushmere” is a stunning homage to Mumford & Sons’ roots – an electrifying reintroduction that sets the stage for the British band’s long-awaited fifth studio album and a bold new chapter in their storied career.
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Stream: “Rushmere” – Mumford & Sons
Light me up, I’m wasted in the dark. Rushmere, restless hearts in the end…
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Britain’s original “stomp and holler” band is back and sounding better than ever.
With the release of “Rushmere” in mid-January, Mumford & Sons not only delivered their first song in a year’s time (since Jan. ‘24’s “Good People” with Pharrell), but they also announced their first studio album of the 2020s: RUSHMERE, the long-awaited ‘follow-up’ to 2018’s Delta, will come out on March 28th via Glassnote.
Don’t you miss the breathlessness
The wildness in the eye?
Come home late in the morning light
Bloodshot dreams under streetlight spells
A truth no one can tell
And I was still a secret to myself
A folk rock fever dream that feels a fresh as it does timeless, “Rushmere” is a stunning homage to the band’s roots – both musically and metaphorically. It was around Rushmere Pond, on Wimbledon Common in southwest London, that Marcus Mumford, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane decided to form a band.
And what better way to honor your origin story, than by returning to the sounds that first inspired you? Casual listeners would be forgiven for mistaking “Rushmere” as some long-lost track off Sigh No More, the band’s multi-platinum debut. There’s an instant kinship between the new song and now-‘classic’ hits like “Little Lion Man,” “The Cave,” and “I Will Wait.” Sixteen years on, the acoustic guitars are still jangling, the banjos are still twanging, and Marcus Mumford’s rustic voice still aches with an undeniably raw passion, angst, and yearning.
The band find both a musical and an emotional release in the chorus – a dramatic, cathartic climax that’s as nostalgic and wistful as it is grounded in the moment. Mumford & Sons transport as back to the beginning, reminiscing fondly while harnessing that same energy that drove them onward in their earliest days.
It’s upbeat, intimate, exhilarating, and beautifully human:
Light me up, I’m wasted in the dark
Rushmere, restless hearts in the end
Get my head out of the ground
Time don’t let us down again
This is folk rock at its finest; a nod to Mumford & Sons’ past, embedded with their DNA, that nonetheless feels like the exciting start to a brand new chapter – which it most certainly is.
All told, “Rushmere” is the perfect reintroduction to Mumford & Sons – a reminder of why the world first fell in love with them nearly two decades ago, and a testament to their enduring ability to capture our ears and our hearts.
Take me back to empty lawns
And nowhere elsе to go
You say, “Come get lost in a fairground crowd”
Wherе no one knows your name
There’s only honest mistakes
There’s no price to a wasted hour
Well, light me up, I’m wasted in the dark
Rushmere, restless hearts in the end
And get my head out of the ground
Time don’t let us down again
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Stream: “Rushmere” – Mumford & Sons
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© James Marcus Haney
© James Marcus Haney
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