Mumford & Sons – Delta

Mumford & Sons have reached their major heights of success by being a fairly straightforward band. Their Americana has none of the obscure historical references or styles, their feelings aren’t cloaked in sarcasm, and their appeal isn’t in hipness. At its best, new album Delta delivers the powerful emotion one looks for & needs from Mumford & Sons, if with a few too many other tracks.

Marcus Mumford’s soaring alt-country/rock comes through clearly on key Delta songs, such as singles “Guiding Light” and “If I Say”, along with the brightening “Slip Away”. There are a few interesting curveballs, like the quietly powerful “October Skies” and close-up sadness “Wild Heart”, but most of the rest of Delta feel like versions of the singles of equal or lesser effect. At fourteen songs, a few definitely could have been dropped for a tighter record.

If Mumford & Sons are a group that release albums where the best songs are the singles, that’s how all the other big hit acts do it, and these London boys do it all well.