Sigh No More

They might seem relatively new in the States, but Mumford & Sons have been caught in the web of young English folk artists alongside the likes of Laura Marling, Noah and the Whale, and Johnny Flynn for quite a while. (They've often served as Marling's backing band.) The title track of the quartet's full-length debut, Sigh No More, starts the record with four-part harmonies backed by quiet acoustic guitar, but it only takes about two minutes to get to the first of the album's many foot-stomping, bluegrass-influenced hoedowns. Ultimately, Sigh No More is founded on frontman Marcus Mumford's cries of heartbreak and search for courage: In "White Blank Page" he asks, "Tell me now where was my fault/In loving you with my whole heart?" and "The Cave" has a refrain of "But I will hold on hope/And I won't let you choke/On the noose around your neck." But despite Mumford's distress, it's the glorious choruses, heavy on banjo, accordion, mandolin, and sometimes piano and horns, that make it easy to believe everything will be okay.