In the alliterative spirit of my Free Friday posts, I’ve decided to start a new weekly series.

So welcome to the first edition of “Music Monday” at RyanSpilhaus.com. Each Monday I’ll be highlighting some music that you should be listening to.

This week I’ll be highlighting one of my current favorites, Mumford & Sons.

This British Folk Rock band is rapidly gaining popularity on this side of the pond with their debut release, Sigh No More. It’s probably my favorite album of the year so far. The album is the perfect mix of energy and slow parts, with incredibly catchy choruses and fantastic musicianship.

The lyrics stand out, with a deepness to them that is seldom matched. Although the band is “secular”, the songs are bathed in spiritual themes. You can sense the longing in front man Marcus Mumford’s voice when he sings in the song Awake My Soul

“Awake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
You were made to meet your maker”

You can also hear the sense of loss and the pain when he sings in Winter Winds

“Oh the shame that sent me off from the God that I once loved
Was the same that sent me into your arms”

I’m not sure whether they are believers, but you can certainly see the influence of God in their music. (For a great article on finding the sacred in the secular, check out Relevant Magazine’s “When the Secular is Sacred”.)

Regardless, the fantastic music and deep themes of the songs makes Mumford & Son’s Sigh No More a must-listen to album.

You can currently purchase it for $5.99 on Amazon.com (click here)

Check out the videos below for some of their songs:

The Cave

Winter Winds