Mumford & Sons – Babel (Vinyl LP)

The earliest memories of the band performing together are within the close confines of a rehearsal room in Putney, and of last minute street-side jamming sessions on the pavement outside Bosun’s Locker (a now defunct basement venue on Kings Road in London) ahead of a show. It was a scene already common to the band as musicians falling in and out of bands of each and every genre. Ben Lovett and Marcus were already working on songs together from their school days, but those songs didn’t realise their full potential until Winston Marshall (armed with a banjo and dobro), and Ted Dwane (double bass, but with a penchant for being a multi-instrumental marvel) had learnt and lived those songs, given them new arrangements, and injected them with a real ‘band’ dynamic.

Even then they were reticent to make it ‘official’. The name Mumford & Sons was eventually chosen as it suggested a wholesome, family business. It suited the relationships that had grown within the band. They were brothers in all but blood relation, and they very quickly became inseparable. As is typical in London, if a good band forms, word tends to travel quickly. Within a few months, Mumford & Sons were releasing their eponymously named debut EP, through the fledgling independent Chess Club Records label. It featured the first, self-produced recordings of “Roll Away Your Stone,” “Awake My Soul” and “White Blank Page” and sold-out instantly.The live shows were rammed to the rafters in London, which was soon replicated across the whole of the UK.

1.  Babel
2.  Whispers In The Dark
3.  I Will Wait
4.  Holland Road
5.  Ghosts That We Knew
6.  Lover Of The Light
7.  Lovers’ Eyes
8.  Reminder
9.  Hopeless Wanderer
10. Broken Crown
11. Below My Feet
12. Not With Haste