When Mumford & Sons came out with their debut album “Sigh No More,” I thoroughly enjoyed it and frequently listened to it. This British group put a new twist on folk influences and instruments, while combining them with big sing along choruses.

The lyrics in the first album were touching and thoughtful. One that is especially remarkable is, “Her white blank page, a swelling rage, you did not think when you sent me to the brink, you desired my attention, but denied my affections, my affections.” Truthfully it is still one of my favorite albums.

Last month Mumford released their sophomore album “Babel.” Quite honestly I would rather listen to baby babble than this album. It just doesn’t have the feeling the last album had. The songs feel like they used the same melody and tweaked it in different ways, over and over again, until they had 12 songs.

I thought the song “I Will Wait” was going to be the album’s saving grace. It starts out with beautiful, strong harmonies that build up to this great folk sound and then the singer, Marcus Mumford, hits you with this poppy repeating vocal line that doesn’t fit with the song. I just feel like this band has so much internal talent to offer, but I definitely did not hear it in this album. Throughout the album I also felt that the band was trying to explore different elements from other genres. I support this when it is done well. “Lover of Light” is one of those songs that has some genre exploring in the mix.

The little addition of some jazz piano in this song sounds nothing more than misplaced. I would not recommend this album, but then again I may just be a little too picky. If you are a fan of Mumford & Sons then give it a listen.

You may find more merit to their work than I did