From Billboard.com
December 14, 2012 9:00 EST 

Folk/rock quartet Mumford & Sons earn top Rock Album applause for a second consecutive year, although with a different leading title than last year. Babel is 2012’s No. 1 Rock Album, highlighted by a debut week of 600,000 copies sold (Oct. 13), marking the largest sales frame for a rock act since 2008. In 2011, the group topped the year-end Rock Albums survey with Sigh No More. The act is the first since Billboard began crowning a yearly top Rock Album in 2006 to manage back-to-back No. 1 rankings.
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In addition to its No. 1 Rock Album ranking, Babel also takes the No. 7 spot on the overall Billboard 200 Best Albums of 2012 chart, No. 3 on the Digital Albums chart, and No. 1 on the Alternative, Folk, and Independent charts. Slow-burning sensation Sigh No More still ranks high on the charts three years after its release, coming in at No. 29 on the Billboard 200 Best Albums of 2012 chart, No. 13 on the Digital Albums chart, No. 2 on the Folk Albums chart (effectively giving Mumford & Sons the top two albums in the category), and No. 7 on both the Rock and Alternative charts.

A Mumford-themed saloon experience with coffee, booze, live music and exclusive preview of the band’s new album

Photo © Rebecca Miller 
From Time Out Sydney:
4 Sept 2012 

Excited about the upcoming release of Mumford and Sons’ album, Babel? Yep? So are we. That’s why we at Time Out Sydney are presenting the Mumford and Sons General Store [from 14-28 September], a Mumford and Sons experience in Sydney’s CBD (location to be announced) where you can get all folksy and awesome in the lead-up the the album release on Friday September 21. 

Put together in collaboration with Aussie visionaries Under New Management, the General Store will be a place you can kick back, enjoy a cup of Grinders coffee and – awesome! – hear Babel ahead of its release date. Then by night, the General Store will become the Mumford and Sons Saloon, where you can drink whiskey aplenty, listen to live sets from some of Mumford and his Sons’ favourite local bands and catch screenings of the band’s movie Big Easy Express. 

We will update this listing with more information soon. In the meantime, get excited Sydney. And while you’re at it, get a ticket to their big show at the Entertainment Centre. 

August 8, 2012, 1:10:12 pm
By Ailbhe Malone
Photo © Rebecca Miller
from NME.com: 

The waistcoat-loving quartet are back with second album ‘Babel’, and it’s classic Mumford. Released on 24 September, and produced by ‘Sigh No More’s Marcus Dravs, there’s been no huge stylistic changes. Expect big choruses, big vocals, and a lot of banjo. Read on for our track-by-track, first-listen response - and look out for the full review in an upcoming issue of the mag.

“Babel”
Opening with a blistering banjo intro, the title track is a statement of intent. Marcus Mumford spits, “I know my weakness, know my voice. And I believe in grace and choice’”. As the chorus hits, the biblical allusions that inspired the album title kick in. 

Like the city that nurtured my greed and my pride, I stretch my arms into the sky. I cry ‘Babel, Babel, look at me now’, and the walls of my town they come tumbling down.

 ”Whispers in the Dark”
A gentle beginning, before a bass drum kicks in with some unusual rhythms. ”Whispers in the dark, steal a kiss, you’ll break a heart’ sings Marcus. It’s a wave to the road, a hat-tip - a kind of ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright’ via Shepherd’s Bush. Ends joyfully - “We must live while we are young”. 

“I Will Wait”
The new single fits in well in the track-listing. Keyboard player Ben Lovett joking described it as “the worst track on the record - we just thought we’d get it out.” Don’t worry, he’s not being serious. Read our review  

“Holland Road”
“With your heart like a stone, you spared no time in lashing out”. Both mournful and hopeful at the same time, the optimism takes over near the end, as the track closes with a repeated cry of “I still believe” over soothing ‘ah’s.  

“Ghosts That We Knew”
Opening line “You saw my pain, washed out in the rain” is not Mumford And Sons’ best lyrical moment, but the track sweetly takes on a spiritual/gospel feel, featuring the killer line: “Give me hope in the darkness so I can see the light”.  

“Lover of the Light”
Optimistic, folky. Banjo takes a back seat. Featuring the most rousing chorus on the entire album, it’s destined to be a live highlight, and builds to a bombastic conclusion, accented with horns:  

Love the one you hold, and I’ll be your goal, to have and to hold, the lover of the light.

“Lovers’ Eyes” 
There’s a mix in instrumentation - horns and brass make an appearance beneath a banjo riff. The tone is sombre but proud, with Marcus Mumford reflecting on the breakdown of a relationship. “I walk slow, take my hand, help me on my way.”  

“Reminder”
More of an interlude than a track. Opens with a solo vocal: “Don’t let me darken your door, it’s not what I came here for”, then a spoken, “No, it’s not what I came here for”. The delivery is restrained, like a folk singer in a pub. Segues into the next track after two minutes.  

“Hopeless Wanderer”
Over five minutes long, this one’s epic. Opens as piano-led torch song: ”You heard my voice, I came out of the woods by choice” to “I will call you by name, I will share your road” into up-tempo classic Mumford. “You brought me out from the cold, how I long to grow old”.  

“Broken Crown”
Darker than the other tracks so far. “I will not speak of your sins”. There’s a kind of Russian folk song beat, with Marcus howling,“Crawl on my belly until the sun goes down, I’ll never wear your broken crown”. It’s the best, most visceral track yet.

“Below My Feet”
Opens with a pretty banjo riff and classic Mumford harmonies: “Keep the earth below my feet, from my sweat my blood runs weak”. It’s an ode to keeping your feet on the ground - more than likely inspired by the whirlwind year the group have just had.

“Not With Haste”
With a chorus of “We’ll be who we are, and they’ll heal our scars/Sadness will be far away”, this is as close to a ‘haters gonna hate’ sentiment as Mumfords are going to write. That said, it’s still hearty, upbeat and rousing to the end. No downers here.
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NME.COM blogs contain the opinions of the individual writer and not necessarily those of NME magazine or NME.COM.

Click through for more information about ‘Babel’ and its upcoming release.

Photo © Rebecca Miller 

Click through now to listen to the evening show for the premiere of “I Will Wait” and for a phone interview with Ben Lovett!