Mumford And Sons "Hopeless Wanderer"

Back in May, I wrestled with the idea of whether MVY should start playing the new Mumford And Sons song, "Babel," or take a pass, citing audience fatigue of the band/sound.

Ultimately, we did not add the single.

And a strange thing happened.  Or didn't happen.

I have received ZERO comments about this.

To my knowledge (and hey, as a qualifier, Lord knows I don't know everything) there has not been a single request for us to play the song "Babel." 

No one has called, or written, to say "How come you're not playing any more of the new Mumford And Sons?"

I find this stunning, particularly in light of the fact that their album was voted Number One in 2012 by the MVY listeners.

I mean, no requests suggests that no one cares or notices.  But voting it Number One just a few months ago also suggests the exact opposite.

What gives?

Well, the 3rd single has arrived at radio.  "Hopeless Wanderer" is in search of airplay.

Perhaps the most succinct assessment of the tune came from Barbara Dacey.  When I was about to play it for her, she asked, "Does it go to that Mumford And Sons place they go?"

Yes.  Yes it does.

Nothing new to see here.  Equally as likeable as their previous singles,  but nothing new.

So I'm back to where I was in May.

Is there Mumford fatigue?  Or are you ready for more fudge.


(Even if you can't stand the band, you're gonna love this video.  In fact, if you can't stand the band, you'll most definitely love the video!)


Hear the song on Youtube.

Mumford & Sons "Babel"

A long-ago friend of mine had a theory she called: The Dichotomy Of Fudge.

It basically goes like this:

You have some fudge in front of you so you have a square.  It tastes delicious.  Immediately, you want more.

So you eat a second square of fudge.  It is extremely rich and luscious.  Now your whole mouth is filled with the taste.

You can't resist a 3rd piece.  It seems kind of indulgent, but there's all this fudge on the table and it tastes so insanely good.

By the time you are eating that 4th piece, you can hear the voice in the back of your head saying, "Maybe I should not be eating so much fudge," by that voice is quickly drown out by the voice at the front of your head screaming, "FUUUUDDDDGGGGGGEE!!!!!!!!!!"

Before you've even finished the 5th piece, all goes quiet in your head, except for the words: "Uh oh," as a wave of nausea takes over and you think you might just be sick to your stomach and so you lie down on the couch.

The Dichotomy Of Fudge is that eating a piece of fudge makes you compulsively want to eat more and more fudge, but eating too much fudge inevitably makes you feel ill.

I bring this up because there is another Mumford And Sons single out.

A Mumford And Sons single, I suddenly realize, is a lot like a piece of fudge.  On it's own, in a single bite, it is a fun and joyous experience, and if I play a Mumford And Sons song, the audience automatically wants more.

But the more I play Mumford And Sons, the more likely it is that the listening audience becomes sick to their stomachs from hearing them.

I mean, the first Mumford And Sons record was the 2nd most popular album of 2011 on mvyradio.  And the "Babel" record was voted number one in 2012, by a long shot.  These records are passionately loved by the listening audience, so we have played the hell out of them.

As always, I point out that we have played them so frequently, not just because WE like them, but because that's what the audience wants to hear.

I'm looking at the National airplay charts and the new single "Babel" is starting to climb.  Other listeners in other cities are already asking for more fudge.

So what do we do?  Go with what the front of your brain is screaming ("MUUUUMMMMMFOORRRRRD!!!")?  Or listen to the voice that says, "That's enough fudge for now, mvyradio listeners . . ."?


Hear the song on Youtube.

Mumford And Sons "Lover Of The Light"

As noted on the earlier-this-week posts, the statistics of the Top 25 are pretty interesting.

For years, the Number One album on mvy was usually by a stalwart, heritage artist.  Someone like Bob Dylan or Mark Knopfler was most likely to garner the votes to get the top spot.  And that’s because our listeners, young and old, were operating under the consensus mind that Bob Dylan is a pretty amazing artist, and so lots of different kinds of listeners were voting for his album.

But over the course of the last few years, the Top spot has gone to a young artist who can build enough consensus from the bottom up.

Instead of being an established artist, the Number One record has been by a upstart artist with a breakout record.  And maybe that record started with the younger end of the audience, but was quickly embraced by the full spectrum of listeners.

Yes, your college student kid may have brought home the record first, but even your Dad taps along to the beat when the song comes on the radio.

So it was with last year’s Number One record, from Adele.

Adele’s “21” album managed the incredible feat of receiving twice as many votes from mvyradio listeners, as the Number Two record.  (You're gonna crack up, when you realize what was Number Two, last year)

I didn’t think anyone could pull that off again.

And yet, here we are.  Mumford And Sons’ “Babel” record actually receive more than twice the votes of the Number Two record.

You can view the whole list, and draw your own conclusions about what folks were excited about this year, on our Top 25 of 2012 page.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Mumford And Sons "I Will Wait"

In this day and age, Mumford And Sons' trajectory is pretty unheard of . . .

Their first record, "Sigh No More" was originally released in 2009.  It didn't catch on in the USA until 2010, and it didn't become a smash until 2011.

That's a loooonng time in the Record Industry's version of Dog Years.

Bands don't get that kind of time to ramp up these days.  If you aren't charted within the first few months of your first single release, there is little hope that your label is going to stick with you.

Even more unheard of . . . a band has a smash success, and takes its time with a follow up record.

The Record Industries credo is "strike while the iron is hot," and "the public has a very short memory."

If a band has smashing success, get them in a studio and get the follow up record out there ASAP!

One of the true advantages to this, is to avoid the pit of unwieldy expectations.

If I were a label person with Mumford And Sons, I might have been worried.

The new record has been talked about, and waiting for, and theorized about, and anticipated in the press, all year long.  This leaves plenty of room for people's idea of how good this record might be, to become untethered from reality . . .

Fortunately, the band leads with this single, "I Will Wait."  And smartly, it doesn't do anything to defy, subvert or torpedo expectations.  It sounds like a good Mumford And Sons song.  One that isn't a departure from what people loved about the first record.  It's satisfying.

And that's good news, because it sucks when a record is dismissed on the merits of what people want it to be, instead of what it is.

I'm looking forward to finding out what the rest of "Babel," is . . .


Hear the song on Youtube.