Look at this:
Now at this.
What does it spell?
“We are more than excited to release Babel into the world. We had started writing new songs well before we got into the studio to record. At first, we peeled ourselves off the road quite reluctantly. We love playing live, obviously, but it had also become an important part of our creative process, we had been writing and rehearsing in soundchecks, and sort of ‘road-testing’ new songs on our very gracious audiences. But then we fell in love with recording again. The album started to come together, and with the help of Markus Dravs once more (and engineer Robin Baynton), we started to relish the challenge of making this album. As a band, we’ve never been closer or more collaborative, all working to our strengths. And so we feel that this record is a natural progression that we’re proud of, and we cannot wait to take it out on the road.”
– Mumford & Sons
The release date that the band is so excited for has been announced to be September 25th. A solid month and a half after the upcoming WBRU Presents show at PPAC (hopefully you were lucky enough to get tickets even though they were all gone within 5 minutes of going on sale), September 25th could not come any sooner. I’ll be crossing my fingers and praying that they play a bunch of new material at the concert (that is, if I end up going…).
The teaser trailer for the album was released a couple of weeks ago and was certainly a hair more than enigmatic. Featuring a mini carnival, fire breathing, the band sitting pensively, and a horse, the trailer was certainly a good hook; I certainly wanted to know more after seeing it. With just the flags (and the man in the top hat), it wasn’t even definite as to the name of the album and there were a couple different theories as to what the title would be.
The album is up for pre-order through the band’s website on the 23rd of July. It is produced by Markus Dravs and will be released through Glassnote Records.
Also available on their website, here is the track listing of Babel:
- “Babel”
- “Whispers In The Dark”
- “I Will Wait”
- “Holland Road”
- “Ghosts That We Knew”
- “Lover Of The Light”
- “Lovers’ Eyes”
- “Reminder”
- “Hopeless Wanderer”
- “Broken Crown”
- “Below My Feet”
- “Not With Haste”
The Mumford & Sons “Gentlemen of the Road Stopover Shows” tour is in full swing this summer across the States, so if you want to see the band and couldn’t get tickets to the show at the PPAC on August 6th, you may want to consider being a Gentleman (or Gentle-lady…woman…something like that) of the road in order to see these guys perform.
Check out their list of tour dates and locations:
1st August – Hoboken, New Jersey SOLD OUT
4th August – Portland, Maine (Gentlemen of the Road Stopover Show with Mumford & Sons + St. Vincent, Dawes, The Maccabees, Apache Relay, Simone Felice, Haim) SOLD OUT
6th August – Providence Performing Arts Centre, Providence, Rhode Island SOLD OUT
7th August – Marvin Sands Performing Arts, Canandaigua, New York
9th August – nTelos Wireless Pavilion, Portsmouth, Virginia
11th August – Bristol, Tennessee (Gentlemen of the Road Stopover Show with Mumford & Sons + Dawes, JEFF The Brotherhood, The Very Best, Apache Relay, Simone Felice, Justin Townes Earl, Haim) SOLD OUT
13th August – Louisville Waterfront Park, Louisville, Kentucky
14th August – The LC Pavilion, Columbus, Ohio SOLD OUT
18th August – Dixon, Illinois (Gentlemen of the Road Stopover Show with Mumford & Sons + Gogol Bordello, Dawes, Abigail Washburn, The Very Best, Apache Relay, Haim) SOLD OUT
20th August – Pinewood Bowl Theatre, Lincoln, Nebraska SOLD OUT
21st August – Gryphon Theatre, Laramie, Wyoming SOLD OUT
22nd August – The Saltair, Magna, Utah
25th August – Monterey, California (Gentlemen of the Road Stopover Show with Mumford & Sons + Gogol Bordello, The Very Best, Apache Relay, Haim) SOLD OUT
28th August – Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Colorado SOLD OUT
29th August – Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Colorado SOLD OUT
1st September – Aspen Jazz Festival, Aspen, Colorado
13th October – Belvoir Amphitheatre, Perth
15th October – Entertainment Centre, Adelaide
17th October – Riverstage, Brisbane
18th October – Entertainment Centre, Sydney
23rd October – Derwent Entertainment Centre, Hobart
25th October – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
26th October – Royal Theatre, Canberra
28th October – Kuranda Amphitheatre, Cairns
29th October – Convention Centre, Townsville
31st October – Convention Centre, Gold Coast
2nd November – Vector Arena, Auckland
4th November – Town Hall, Wellington
6th November – CBS Arena, Christchurch
If you are not familiar with Mumford & Sons quite yet and would like to become acquainted (which you really, really should) be sure to check out the “
Video” portion of their website to see some recordings of live performances as well as the official videos for “
Little Lion Man,” “
The Cave,” “
Winter Winds,” and “
Roll Away Your Stone,” all great tracks off of their debut album,
Sigh No More, which was released in 2009. As a bonus, here is an acoustic version of “
White Blank Page,” probably my favorite off of the album, which played as part of their Acoustic Bookshop Session (other videos available on their
YouTube Channel).
That, my friends, is all of the news available at the moment about the upcoming sophomore album,
Babel. Be sure to keep your eyes on our blog in the coming weeks, however, as any new information will be posted ASAP.
