Mumford & Sons are following up the surprise success of their debut, Sigh No More, with a new album called Babel.
“I Will Wait,” the album’s first single, doesn’t sound much different than their previous work — stomp along rhythms, fast-paced banjo and a bit of horns — but there’s a marked difference. “I Will Wait,” and the other new songs they’re playing live, including their recent CMAC show, are a real transition to mainstream pop.
“I Will Wait” sounds like something off a rom-com soundtrack. The melody is uneventful and kind of boring, and even the folk instruments sound repetitive and unchanged from Sigh No More. It’s innocuous, but nowhere near the level of other indie-folk groups like the Avett Brothers.
Babel is out September 24.
