Mumford & Sons’ New Album ‘Prizefighter’ Is Pleasant But Lacks Punch

Mumford & Sons - ‘Prizefighter’ album artwork. Image credit: Chuff Media

‘If you like Mumford & Sons, you’ll probably like the album. If you don’t, you probably won’t.’

Marcus Mumford, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane were simply not done when their 2025 album ‘RUSHMERE’ topped the charts in April. Off the back of last year’s success, Mumford & Sons’ swiftly followed new release ‘Prizefighter’ is the next chapter, born from the same New York recording sessions and renewed enthusiasm which produced the songs of both albums in just 10 days.

On the record, bandleader Marcus Mumford said

“Prizefighter is us going for it - serious and playful, sometimes bruised and always hopeful. We’re nowhere near done yet… I’m more excited to be in this band than I’ve ever been.”

This album doesn’t exactly sound like a band ‘going for it’... more a victory lap of a winning formula. We’re reviewing ‘Prizefighter’, released today via Island Records.

Read on below.

Mumford & Sons ‘Prizefighter’ album review. Image credit: Chuff Media

The album gets off to a plodding start, lacking the oomph you might expect from a body of work titled ‘Prizefighter.’ Kicking off a star-studded tracklist, Chris Stapleton’s voice pairs warmly with Mumford’s. It’s cozy and comforting, but not in natural harmony with the album’s title and flickering flame cover art.

As the album progresses, it becomes apparent that the symbolism of a ‘prizefighter’ may be intended more in the ‘fraudulent’ sense, of someone who feels defeated, or not quite ‘enough’, though determined to find some inner resilience: ‘you should have seen me in my glory’.

Embracing their sonic identity with full gusto, ‘The Banjo Song’ is the ultimate blueprint of a Mumford & Sons track: buoyant strumming, steady beat, singalong bridge, and an uplifting final chorus that brings in the brass and full kaleidoscope of sound. It’s a perfectly pleasant song, but we’ve heard many iterations of it before. If you come to this album hoping for banjo, you certainly won’t be disappointed.

“‘Prizefighter’ dips into personal vulnerabilities, insecurities and critical thoughts far more than previous records, and this lends a degree of greater lyrical complexity that wasn’t present in the hook-first bones of ‘I Will Wait’ and the like.”

Hozier’s rich tones are another organic pairing that work wonderfully with the band’s sound. ‘Rubber Band Man’, the album’s lead single, is a clear frontrunner, with his steady baritone able to bounce off its light, tambourine chorus. The band invited an array of A-list artists in through the revolving door of New York’s Long Pond Studios and subsequently the world created there. Features from Gigi Perez, Gracie Abrams and the rest don’t shift the album particularly far from its starting point, and it seems they weren’t intended to. The exception may fall with Abrams’ featured ‘Badlands’, which does sound more Halsey than barn hall, bringing a new spin to the band’s traditional indie-folk sound.

And then it’s back to the banjo.

There’s a dip in energy approaching the middle section, surprising to find that here is where title track ‘Prizefighter’ is nestled. Written with The National’s Aarron Dessner, co-producer of the album, it’s one of the most minimal, introspective points in the entire album, and for that it stands out, but it fails to land beyond novelty in its context. On the other hand, ‘Conversation With My Son (Gangsters & Angels)’ is a gentle, memorable moment that bleeds tenderness, and takes its time over a full five minutes to find its inevitable crescendo.

It’s not until ‘Run Together’, Track 4, where we first start to hear the energy and excitement spoken of in the making of the record, but it doesn’t stick around. Down the road, ‘Stay’ has the same driving force, but the songs sound remarkably similar to each other (and previous Mumford releases), and having both seems excessive. Shaved from 14 songs to 9 or 10, the album would have still achieved the same result.

“‘Prizefighter’ is an overspill album that sees a creative burst through to the end. Mumford & Sons sound just like… Mumford & Sons. And that’s ok. Not every body of work needs to offer a creative reinvention. ”

To their credit, ‘Prizefighter’ dips into personal vulnerabilities, insecurities and critical thoughts far more than previous records, and this lends a degree of greater lyrical complexity that wasn’t present in the hook-first bones of ‘I Will Wait’ and the like. But the fact still remains: if you like Mumford & Sons, you’ll probably like the album. If you don’t, you probably won’t.

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Mumford & Sons’ ‘Prizefighter’ is an overspill album that sees a creative burst through to the end. There isn’t much variation across the tracks, reiterating Marcus Mumford’s words,

‘We’re using everything about our experience so far to embrace exactly who we are. We’re comfortable in our skins these days’. 

This record is a sonic stamp that indeed reflects a band at their most comfortable. With minimal risk-taking, predictable melodies, and song progressions that rarely stray beyond signature, Mumford & Sons sound just like… Mumford & Sons. And that’s ok. Not every body of work needs to offer a creative reinvention. This probably won’t be the album that features most prominently in Mumford & Sons’ ever expanding legacy, though it will certainly boost their setlist with a wide selection of new picks.

So it seems that Mumford & Sons have returned to the sound that defines them, even if it’s taken a leap of faith to do so. To the average listener, the response will be dependent on your reception to their breakout hits… and how much you like banjos.