Mumford & Sons Still ‘Gentlemen Of The Road’

Produced by James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, HAIM, Florence & The Machine), Wilder Mind drops May 4 through Glassnotes Records.

Recorded at London’s AIR Studios, Wilder Mind features 12 new tracks collaboratively written by the band while in London, Brooklyn and Texas.  The Brooklyn stop had Mumford & Sons working at the garage studios belonging to The National’s Aaron Dessner.  The band also spent some time at London’s Eastcote Studios, where members continued to write and record demo sessions.

Marcus Mumford described the LP as “a development, not a departure.”

“Towards the end of the Babel tour, we’d always play new songs during sound checks, and none of them featured the banjo, or a kick-drum,” Mumford said. “And demoing with Aaron meant that, when we took a break, we knew it wasn’t going to involve acoustic instruments.  We didn’t say: ‘No acoustic instruments.’  But I think all of us had this desire to shake it up. The songwriting hasn’t changed drastically; it was led more by a desire to not do the same thing again.  Plus, we fell back in love with drums!  It’s as simple as that.”

So far, Mumford & Songs have announced five Gentlemen Of The Road stops with four taking place in the U.S. and one planned for Scotland.  Scheduled for Fridays and Saturdays, these two-day festivals feature a selection of top names along with up-and-coming acts with Mumford & Sons headlining on Saturdays.  Although venues have not been announced, the Gentlemen Of The Road shows will take place in carefully selected locations.  Here’s the plan:

June 5-6 – Seaside Heights, N.J. – The Flaming Lips, Alabama Shakes, The Vaccines, The Maccabees, Dawes, The Very Best, Jenny Lewis, Little May, JEFF The Brotherhood, Blake Mills

June 19-20 – Waverly, Iowa – The Flaming Lips, My Morning Jacket, Dawes, Jenny Lewis, The Maccabees, The Very Best, Rubblebucket, JEFF The Brotherhood, Blake Mills

July 31-Aug. 1 – Aviemore, Scotland – Primal Scream, Simian Mobile Disco, Ben Howard, Lianne La Havas, The Maccabees, Jack Garratt, Honeyblood

Aug. 14-15 – Walla Walla, Wash. – Foo Fighters, The Flaming Lips, The Vaccines, Dawes, Jenny Lewis, TUnE-yArDs, James Vincent McMorrow, JEFF The Brotherhood, Blake Mills

Aug. 21-22 – Salida, Colo. – The Flaming Lips, Dawes, Jenny Lewis, The Vaccines, TUnE-yArDs, James Vincent McMorrow, JEFF The Brotherhood, Blake Mills

Expect more dates and artists to be announced.

Tickets for Gentlemen Of The Road dates go on sale March 6 at 10 a.m. local time.  Head over to MumfordAndSons.com for more information.