Mumford & Sons

It’s not a Dickens novel--the “Mumford” is Marcus Mumford, and the “Sons” are Ben Lovett, Ted Dwane, and Country Winston. These four London friends share a love of things like bluegrass, folk, indie rock, frayed sweaters, pints in the afternoon, group vocals, house cats, too much coffee, gray days, antiques shops, and anything else heartrending and uppity, if their debut album Sigh No More is any indication. Formed in late 2007, the band made quick work of the UK club scene with their initial clutch of rickety, earnest tunes, and peppered the landscape with singles and EPs. The Sons entered the studio with Bjork and Arcade Fire producer Markus Dravs, and laid down the twelve tracks of Sigh No More. Bubbling over with horns, mandolin, banjo, double bass and more, Sigh No More is a firey assortment of careening, melancholy tunes that evokes everyone from Frightened Rabbit to David Gray to Richard and LInda Thompson. The album roused critics and attracted a new crop of fans, and the sun-deprived heroes of Mumford and Sons toured the world to support it.