As Marcus Mumford is getting ready to release his debut album, the Mumford & Sons leader opened up about how Neil Young inspired the project. In a recent interview with NME, Mumford talked about the advice that the Canadian rock icon gave him a decade ago.
Following over a decade of success with Mumford & Sons, Mumford is releasing his album Self-Titled on Friday (September 16). In July, he first teased the LP with his haunting lead single “Cannibal.” Mumford has since followed with the singles “Grace” and “Better Off High.” In the interview, Mumford spoke about how a chat with Neil Young inspired his debut album.
A decade ago, Young gave Mumford advice that turned out to be invaluable for putting together his solo LP. Mumford said:
“Neil Young sat me down about ten years ago and told me the importance of recorded music and that I should pay more attention to the way in which we record because I was always [like], ‘Ah, it’s just an advert for a live show.’ He was like, ‘No man, these things last.’ I felt like on this record, I listened to that [advice]. I paid closer attention to the way it sounded than anything I’d ever done before.”
Back in July, Mumford performed with Joni Mitchell as part of her surprise set at Newport Folk Festival. About the experience of performing “My Funny Valentine” for her, he added, “It was just magical. Joni actually said to me, ‘Your instincts are good, you should just play’, when I was worried about a song. I was like, ‘Well, that’s a tattoo I’ve gotta get! Joni Mitchell says I have good instincts.’ It was just so sweet.”
Check out Uproxx’s ranking of every Neil Young studio album here.
Self-Titled is out 9/16 via Capitol Records. Pre-order it here.
