Mumford & Sons have unveiled their grand ambitions for forthcoming new album Delta in a new interview with Music Week.
The Paul Epworth-produced record, which marks 10 years since the band's formation, is out on November 16 and is preceded by new single Guiding Light.
"Guiding Light felt like a good bridge between the old stuff and the new stuff," said frontman Marcus Mumford. "It’s recognisably us, but it’s not the same as what we’ve done before and lyrically it felt like the right moment to be telling that specific story.
“It’s been quite a fertile time. We’ve written a lot of songs – we’ve got too many – which is never a problem we’ve faced in the past, not when we’re leaving things off that could probably be singles.
"The scale of everything in our lives seems to have got a bit bigger – certainly birth and death are much more real than they were 10 years ago – so in that way it’s felt like an ushering from shelter to something more wild.”
Delta is their first record since 2015's Wilder Mind (428,704 sales), while the band are also due to announce a 60 date world tour, set to begin in November.
“I’m so proud of it," said banjoist/guitarist Winston Marshall. "We’ve fulfilled so many of our artistic ambitions and I hope it enables us to keep making music and touring for a long while.”
“This is an opportunity for us to be defined by something greater than we’ve ever been defined by before," added keyboardist Ben Lovett. "This is ambition beyond anything we’ve ever tried before.”
Delta showcases an expansive sound, including the return of the acoustic instruments synonymous with the band's early material.
“There’s never a conscious decision to use or not use any instrumentation along with all of the newer sounds," explained bassist Ted Dwane. "There was never a discussion about it, it’s more just serving the song. So there are definitely some banjos, but some weirder and more wonderful things in there too.”
Click here to read this week's Music Week cover story on Mumford & Sons.
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PHOTO: Paul Harries
