Mumford & Sons have combined forces with Pharrell Williams for “Good People,” the group’s first slice of new music since 2019. Stream it below.
Built from a stomping groove, a soulful choir, and escalating chords, “Good People” is a rousing return to Mumford & Sons’ fire-and-brimstone, old-school-folk approach — though for this one, they’ve kept the banjo back at home. “Welcome to the revelation,” goes the Pharrell-led choir throughout, with frontman Marcus Mumford narrating “Good people/ Been down/ For so long/ And now/ It’s like the sun is rising” in the chorus.
A collaboration that no one asked for and few saw coming, Mumford & Sons and Pharrell notably connected at the latter’s Something In the Water Festival last year, where they cemented plans to record something together. In addition to the song’s production, Pharrell Williams fronts the choir comprised of the Native Vocalists, a six-piece vocal group featuring members of several Native American tribes throughout the US and Canada. “Good People” will also get its live debut tonight (January 16th) at Pharrell’s Louis Vuitton Men’s Autumn/Winter runway show at Paris Fashion Week, where the band will perform alongside Williams and the Native Vocalists.
Mumford & Sons’ most recent offering was 2019’s standalone single “Blind Leading the Blind”. Their last album was 2018’s Delta. Since then, the group parted ways with original banjo player Winston Marshall, and Marcus Mumford released his 2022 debut solo album, (self-titled).