# Sigh No More (Mumford & Sons album)
**Sigh No More** is the debut album by the English folk rock quartet [Mumford & Sons](https://www.edgepedia.org/mumford-and-sons), released on 2 October 2009. The 12-track, 48-minute record established the band as the breakout success of the late-2000s British nu-folk (late-2000s indie revival of acoustic folk music) scene and peaked at Number Two on the UK charts.[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/sigh-no-more/1771710636) • [2](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/sigh-no-more-mumford-and-sons-album/) • [3](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/New-Musical-Express/2015/NME-2015-04-18.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist | Mumford & Sons, a West London quartet: Marcus Mumford (vocals, guitar, mandolin), Winston Marshall (banjo, Dobro), Ben Lovett (keyboards, organ), Ted Dwane (double bass)[4](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/11/mumford-sons-sigh-more) |
| Release | 2 October 2009 (UK); 12 tracks, 48 minutes; UK release on Cooperative Music / Gentlemen of the Road / V2, US release on Glassnote on 16 February 2010[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/sigh-no-more/1771710636) • [5](https://www.allmusic.com/album/sigh-no-more-mw0001762194) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/music/sigh-no-more/mumford-sons/critic-reviews?dist=positive) |
| Singles | "Little Lion Man", "Winter Winds", "The Cave", and "Roll Away Your Stone"[7](https://storeus.mumfordandsons.com/collections/sigh-no-more/products/sigh-no-more-cd) |
| Chart peak | Number Two in the UK charts[3](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/New-Musical-Express/2015/NME-2015-04-18.pdf) |
| Critical reception | Metacritic metascore of 68 from 18 critic reviews (12 positive, 5 mixed, 1 negative); Pitchfork scored it 2.1 out of 10[6](https://www.metacritic.com/music/sigh-no-more/mumford-sons/critic-reviews?dist=positive) • [8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13906-sigh-no-more/) |
| Recognition | Described by the band's official store as a Brit award-winning debut album[7](https://storeus.mumfordandsons.com/collections/sigh-no-more/products/sigh-no-more-cd) |
| Legacy | Widely credited with bringing folk sounds back into the mainstream; the band's later albums Babel (2012), Wilder Mind (2015), Delta (2018), Rushmere (2025), and Prizefighter (2026) followed[9](https://wvau.org/blogs/album-review-mumford-sons-lean-away-from-folk-into-pop-in-prizefighter/) • [10](https://www.mumfordandsons.com/music/) |
## Background and recording
Mumford & Sons emerged from the London folk-rock scene that also produced [Laura Marling](https://www.edgepedia.org/laura-marling), Noah and the Whale, and [Johnny Flynn](https://www.edgepedia.org/johnny-flynn). The four members met at a club night called Bosun's Locker, run by [Winston Marshall](https://www.edgepedia.org/winston-marshall), who became the band's banjo player. When Marcus Mumford decided to record some of his own songs, the other three became his impromptu backing band; all four members sing, and they shift roles readily.[4](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/11/mumford-sons-sigh-more)
The album was produced by Markus Dravs, who also produced the band's follow-up Babel, and was recorded at Eastcote Studios in London.[11](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/34729/Mumford-and-Sons-Sigh-No-More/) • [2](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/sigh-no-more-mumford-and-sons-album/) Reviewers credited Dravs with bringing "grandiose variety" to a folk album, a trait the Sputnikmusic review described as often ignored in the genre.[11](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/34729/Mumford-and-Sons-Sigh-No-More/)
## Music and lyrics
The album's sound centers on acoustic instruments, group harmonies, and large dynamic builds. The title track opens the record with a four-part harmony intoning Benedick's line to Beatrice from Shakespeare's *Much Ado About Nothing*, "Serve God, love me and mend," before the voices swell in unison on "And I'm sorry."[12](https://musiccritic.com/mumford-sons/sigh-no-more/) Songs such as "Roll Away Your Stone" and "Thistle & Weeds" carry hints of Celtic melody, and "Timshel" provides a softened, near-gospel frame of guitar around the vocals.[8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13906-sigh-no-more/) • [13](https://www.mezzic.com/albumreviews/review-mumford-sons-sigh-no-more-2010/)
[Marcus Mumford](https://www.edgepedia.org/marcus-mumford), the band's principal songwriter, described the lyrics as "a deliberately spiritual thing but deliberately not a religious thing."[4](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/11/mumford-sons-sigh-more) The album's themes of remorse and confession run through songs like "Little Lion Man" and "White Blank Page".[8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13906-sigh-no-more/)
## Reception
Critical response was divided. Metacritic assigned the album a metascore of 68, based on 18 critic reviews, of which 12 were positive, 5 mixed, and 1 negative; Paste Magazine scored it 91 and Absolute Punk 90, while Drowned in Sound gave 50.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/music/sigh-no-more/mumford-sons/critic-reviews?dist=positive) • [12](https://musiccritic.com/mumford-sons/sigh-no-more/) Pitchfork's review, by critic Stephen M. Deusner, scored the album 2.1 out of 10, arguing that its group harmonies and earnestness were borrowed from [Fleet Foxes](https://www.edgepedia.org/fleet-foxes) and the Avett Brothers and that the record sounded "surprisingly anonymous" for music that prizes the appearance of honesty.[8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13906-sigh-no-more/) Sputnikmusic's review anticipated the standard objections, noting that detractors would call the album "too slick" with "repetitive lyrics and a rigid song structure," alongside debate over the band members' middle-class upbringing.[11](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/34729/Mumford-and-Sons-Sigh-No-More/)
Commercially, the album was a substantial success. It peaked at Number Two in the UK charts, and "Little Lion Man" was already a hit in Britain before the album's wider release.[3](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/New-Musical-Express/2015/NME-2015-04-18.pdf) • [8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13906-sigh-no-more/) The band's official store describes it as a Brit award-winning debut album.[7](https://storeus.mumfordandsons.com/collections/sigh-no-more/products/sigh-no-more-cd) Marcus Mumford later recalled the album's commercial rise bluntly: "that was a rocket ship."[14](https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/npr/nx-s1-5591397/mumford-sons-singer-says-new-album-is-the-crystallization-of-the-band-s-sound)
## Legacy
Sigh No More is widely credited with bringing folk music back into the mainstream and making Mumford & Sons one of the most influential acts in modern folk.[9](https://wvau.org/blogs/album-review-mumford-sons-lean-away-from-folk-into-pop-in-prizefighter/) The band's second album, Babel (2012), drew on several songs written during or shortly after the recording of the first, and [Ben Lovett](https://www.edgepedia.org/ben-lovett-british-musician) said that when working on Babel, "Sigh No More was our starting point."[15](https://thenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/120928-Sept.-28-2012.pdf) • [16](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/New-Musical-Express/2015/NME-2015-03-07.pdf) The band's third album, [Wilder Mind](https://www.edgepedia.org/wilder-mind) (2015), dropped the banjos entirely and used a new producer, James Ford, in place of Dravs.[16](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/New-Musical-Express/2015/NME-2015-03-07.pdf) • [17](https://time.com/3843904/mumford-and-sons-wilder-mind-album-review/) The band's later albums Delta (2018), Rushmere (2025), and Prizefighter (2026) continued the catalog, with Mumford calling Prizefighter the record most similar to the first.[10](https://www.mumfordandsons.com/music/) • [18](https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/music/mumford-and-sons-new-album-prizefighter-interview-58419/) Songs on Rushmere such as "Monochrome" and "Where It Belongs" trace their finger-picking somberness to "After the Storm" from Sigh No More.[19](https://www4.wng.org/WORLD_May2025.pdf)
## Track listing
All tracks as listed on the band's official site:[10](https://www.mumfordandsons.com/music/)
1. "Sigh No More" (3:28)
2. "The Cave" (3:38)
3. "Winter Winds" (3:40)
4. "Roll Away Your Stone" (4:24)
5. "White Blank Page" (4:14)
6. "I Gave You All" (4:20)
7. "Little Lion Man" (4:05)
8. "Timshel" (2:53)
9. "Thistle & Weeds" (4:50)
10. "Awake My Soul" (4:16)
11. "Dust Bowl Dance" (4:43)
12. "After The Storm" (4:08)
## References
1. [Sigh No More - Album by Mumford & Sons, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/sigh-no-more/1771710636)
2. [‘Sigh No More’: How Mumford & Sons Found Their Voice, uDiscover Music](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/sigh-no-more-mumford-and-sons-album/)
3. [NME, 18 April 2015](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/New-Musical-Express/2015/NME-2015-04-18.pdf)
4. [The almighty power of Mumford & Sons, The Guardian (11 February 2010)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/11/mumford-sons-sigh-more)
5. [Mumford & Sons: Sigh No More Tracks & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/sigh-no-more-mw0001762194)
6. [Positive Critic Reviews for Sigh No More, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/sigh-no-more/mumford-sons/critic-reviews?dist=positive)
7. [Sigh No More CD, Mumford & Sons Official Store](https://storeus.mumfordandsons.com/collections/sigh-no-more/products/sigh-no-more-cd)
8. [Mumford & Sons: Sigh No More Album Review, Pitchfork (Stephen M. Deusner, 19 February 2010)](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13906-sigh-no-more/)
9. [Album Review: Mumford & Sons lean away from folk, into pop in “Prizefighter”, WVAU](https://wvau.org/blogs/album-review-mumford-sons-lean-away-from-folk-into-pop-in-prizefighter/)
10. [Mumford & Sons Official Website - Music](https://www.mumfordandsons.com/music/)
11. [Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More (album review 4), Sputnikmusic](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/34729/Mumford-and-Sons-Sigh-No-More/)
12. [Album Review: Sigh No More by Mumford & Sons, MusicCritic](https://musiccritic.com/mumford-sons/sigh-no-more/)
13. [REVIEW: MUMFORD & SONS – SIGH NO MORE (2010), Mezzic](https://www.mezzic.com/albumreviews/review-mumford-sons-sigh-no-more-2010/)
14. [Mumford & Sons singer says new album is the 'crystallization' of the band's sound, NCPR News](https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/npr/nx-s1-5591397/mumford-sons-singer-says-new-album-is-the-crystallization-of-the-band-s-sound)
15. [The News-Letter, 28 September 2012](https://thenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/120928-Sept.-28-2012.pdf)
16. [NME, 7 March 2015](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/New-Musical-Express/2015/NME-2015-03-07.pdf)
17. [Review: Mumford & Sons Switch the Sound Up on Wilder Mind, Time](https://time.com/3843904/mumford-and-sons-wilder-mind-album-review/)
18. [Mumford & Sons are on a hot streak, Rolling Stone UK](https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/music/mumford-and-sons-new-album-prizefighter-interview-58419/)
19. [WORLD, May 2025](https://www4.wng.org/WORLD_May2025.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › Country and folk albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license