Mumford & Sons’ ‘Blind Leading the Blind’ Is a Lyrical Novella [LISTEN]

Mumford & Sons’ acceptance of the John Steinbeck Award in September inspired the band to finish its latest lyrical novella, “Blind Leading the Blind.” Press play above to get a taste of the tune for yourself.

The Grammy-winning group unveiled their newest song on Wednesday (Oct. 23) as a part of the Zane Lowe World First segment on freeform radio station Beats 1. Mumford & Sons’ latest blend of folk storytelling and anthemic indie rock instrumentation marks the band’s first new music since their 2018 album, Delta.

As band namesake Marcus Mumford explains it, the song caps off the creative process behind the band’s third straight number one album.

“‘Blind Leading The Blind’ has been a song we’ve had up our sleeves for some time, which ended up being a catalytic song for much of our work on Delta, its themes and feelings, but that we never got round to finishing in time to put it on the original release,” says Mumford in a press release.

“We’re proud that we’ve finally finished it, as it feels like one of the most challenging songs, thematically, that we’ve put out there, both for ourselves and our audience," he goes on to say. "It feels it’s becoming harder and harder to coerce yourself into a listening, present and unafraid disposition, but that’s the gauntlet we’re throwing down for ourselves.”

Mumford shares songwriting credit with bandmates Ben Lovett, Ted Dwane and Winston Marshall.