A friend of mine once told me that the song Pounding by UK group The Doves “makes you happy to be alive.” He was right and to this day I don’t hear that song without smiling simply because I am alive. It’s high praise and not to be handed out lightly. A few months back, when I first heard The Cave by Mumford & Sons, those words came back to me.
It only took a few great reviews to peak my interest in the peculiarly named quartet from West London. Sounding more like a family-run plumbing outfit than a folk group, Mumford & Sons have taken the UK by storm. With recent appearances on David Letterman & Jimmy Fallon, sold out dates across the US and Canada, the buzz is building on this side of the pond.
Whether or not this sound is true folk music is being hotly debated by tastemakers everywhere. But the band certainly suceeds in blending traditional folk sounds with fluid harmonies and the weight of modern rock. Take Fleet Foxes, throw in the grandiose song building in your favourite Arcade Fire song, add a banjo and you’ve found “The Cave.”
Caroline Hall is marketing coordinator at Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall
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