NEW YORK (AP) – Marcus Mumford knows his band is mainly named after himself, but he says members of the group have built a stronger trust among one another, and that’s evident on their new album.
“Personally speaking, I think we’re a bit less self-centered in the studio and a bit like, ‘OK, we’re all on the same team, the team has to win,’ so if that means benching myself for the second half of whatever, I will,” Mumford said in a recent interview.
Mumford & Sons’ “Wilder Mind,” the band’s third album, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart last month. It was recorded in London and New York.
“Because we’ve done a couple albums, there’s almost less urgency to be heard,” Mumford said. “So actually, we just want to make nice music … so we’ll step back and let someone else lead it because it’s not so much ‘I’ve got to say what I feel.'”
Band member Winston Marshall recalls playing guitar parts that Ted Dwane wrote, while Mumford gives credit to Ben Lovett for reworking the track “Only Love” by taking “three hours with it” and rearranging the song. And Marshall says that thanks to Mumford, “Believe” – the first single and Top 40 hit – “was like this ’80s ballad and you made it into ROCK.”