Mumford &. Sons brought a touch of surprise collaboration to their fourth appearance on Saturday Night Live this weekend, performing tracks from their recently released album, Prizefighter. The British folk-rock group opened with “Rubber Band Man,” a song notable for its feature with Irish musician Hozier and co-writing credit to Brandi Carlile. Hozier himself joined the band onstage for the performance, alongside Aaron Dessner of The National, who co-produced the track.
The performance marked a return to the late-night show for Mumford & Sons, who last appeared in 2018 promoting their album Delta. Prizefighter, released February 20th, has already resonated with audiences, with “Rubber Band Man” spending ten weeks at No. 1 on the Adult Alternative Airplay chart, according to Billboard. The album itself represents a new level of creative comfort for the band, as described by frontman Marcus Mumford.
“It’s like we got to this stage in our careers where we’re comfortable in our skin now, and so You can talk straight,” Mumford told People Magazine. “And this is the straightest talking record I think we have. And so it’s the closest to the essence of who we are, honestly. And that’s why I love it so much, because it feels like representing that on record can be really hard and really challenging, and you can get most of the way to success. But there’s always edifice, I think, and this one doesn’t experience like it has much of that in it. It’s just f—ing us and our mates, and that’s what our band is.”
The band’s second performance on SNL featured “Here,” the opening track from Prizefighter, and included a collaboration with Chris Stapleton, alongside Dessner and singer-songwriter Sierra Ferrell.
The creation of Prizefighter benefitted from the production expertise of Aaron Dessner, a member of The National. Ted Dwane, co-founder of Mumford & Sons, highlighted Dessner’s collaborative spirit. “Dessner, he just feels like a real ally,” Dwane said. “We’ve obviously been a fan of The National for a long time, and we met him and worked with him as we were preparing to make our third record, Wilder Mind.”
This latest album arrives less than a year after the release of Rushmere, marking a prolific period for the band. Rushmere, released in March 2023, was the group’s first as a trio following the departure of guitarist and banjoist Winston Marshall. Marshall’s exit, as reported by Rolling Stone, stemmed in part from political disagreements with his bandmates.
Mumford & Sons are currently on tour, with dates scheduled across Australia and New Zealand in April before heading to North America in June and Europe later in the year. They are slated to headline the Bourbon & Beyond Festival in Louisville, Kentucky, this October, according to Rolling Stone.
The band’s continued evolution, marked by both internal shifts and creative collaborations, suggests a willingness to explore new sonic territories although remaining true to their folk-rock roots. Fans can expect further performances and new music as the Prizefighter tour unfolds throughout the year. The band’s schedule, including dates and ticket information, is available on their official website at www.mumfordandsons.com/tour.
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