- Record Label: Glassnote Entertainment Group
- Release Date: Jun 17, 2016
Buy Now
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Jun 21, 2016Johannesburg’s thrills develop as the band participates in and gently incorporates something unfamiliar--without claiming ownership of it.
-
Jun 21, 2016Mumford & Sons proceed with intention, making this into a listen that's not only more compelling than their 2015 full-length, but one that suggests ways they could grow.
-
MagnetAug 9, 2016The combination here of light electronic production, show-stopping African vocals, Mumford harmonies and heart-on-your-sleeve pop is hard not to love. [No. 133, p.59]
-
Jun 23, 2016An enjoyable diversion.
-
Jun 21, 2016When the disparate influences mesh properly--as on the irresistible ‘Fool You’ve Landed’--they find a very happy medium.
-
Jun 24, 2016Mercifully, there’s no banjo--the Sons of Johannesburg are the less folksy, more decidedly middle-of-the-road band that recorded last year’s tedious Wilder Mind. That doesn’t save them from falling into 100 percent of all their other tropes, like substituting frenzied, overlong crescendos with truly grandiose stadium rock.
-
Jun 23, 2016Rather than mine the potential depths of a more cohesive collaboration, the two halves often feel disconnected.
-
Jun 21, 2016Too many forced climaxes here lack the organic sense of drama the Mumfords summon at their best, and the pan-African elements aren’t integrated into the pop-rock song structures, so the lively polyrhythms and keening vocals merely decorate the swelling choruses rather than transforming them.