A staple of the folk-rock genre, few people wouldn’t recognise the name or work of Mumford & Sons. 

Following only a year after the release of their fifth studio album, Rushmere, was their sixth album Prizefighter, released in February this year.  

The album was recorded in ten days at producer Aaron Dessner’s studio in New York, and now they’re taking it around the world – bringing it to New Zealand’s shores as well. 

They’re performing tonight at Auckland’s Spark Arena, and compared to the more intimate, slightly introspective shows the band has done in the past, this one is set to be a bit more exciting. 

“This is the beginning of a major bout of like, quite a few months of touring for us with a whole new production, a new album, and we’re quite ambitious for the whole thing,” Keyboardist and vocalist Ben Lovett told Jack Tame. 

“It’s our 6th album, so we’re quite like, in a spirit of let’s like, leave it all on the floor, let’s bring all the new songs out, let’s give it a whole new visual aesthetic.” 

“It’s quite exciting really.” 

Despite only being a year apart in release dates, Rushmere and Prizefighter are quite different records – Rushmere being more introspective and internal, while Prizefighter is more expansive, featuring collaborations with artists like Chris Stapleton and Hozier. 

“When we talked about getting back together, I think our desire was to make a record that felt like you were kind of pulling the curtain back and just hearing a band in a room together,” Ted Dwane, who does vocals, bass, and guitar for the band, told Tame.  

“So with Dave Cobb we made Rushmere, and kind of, I think, kind of completed that thought.” 

And it was Rushmere’s release that threw the band’s creative doors wide open, answering any questions about where the band was at musically and whether the audience would be along for the ride. 

“And I think just internally between us, it was an incredibly freeing feeling, y’know, just the feeling of making Prizefighter,” Dawson said. 

“It felt like the backlog was cleared and we were flowing again.”  

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