The EDM explosion has been well-documented, so no need to belabor the point, but just consider for a moment how dance-oriented the singles chart is right now. What initially took me aback when I heard “Home,” and what’s so astonishing about this whole folk-rock-on-the-pop-charts movement, is how it’s happening in an environment almost entirely geared around club music. Now they’re set to tour arenas with Dave Matthews Band, which - well, more on that in a second. A few months ago this band was part of the undercard at an independent radio fest here in Columbus. 11, and clap-and-stomp-powered single “Ho Hey” is at No. The Lumineers’ self-titled album made it up to No. The group shares Mumford’s aesthetic in both sight (a fondness for olde-timey instruments and attire) and sound (acoustic anthems with mega sing-along potential), and they recently pulled off a similar leap from budding underground sensation to legitimate chart power. Imitating a band that’s incurring that level of adulation is obviously a lucrative career move, so of course Phillips isn’t the only one doing it it seems to be working out for Denver folk trio the Lumineers. Judging from the buzz in town that day and the number of people who lined up along the fence to hear the show, they could have easily filled an arena or two. Mumford-mania translated to live shows too when the band came to my native Columbus back in August, it was initially booked for the 5,000-capacity outdoor amphitheater LC Pavilion, but tickets were on pace to sell out during the presale, so the promoter moved the show to the parking lot behind the venue and doubled the capacity. (Yes, that happened.) Babel’s success extended to the Hot 100 singles chart, where Mumford became the first band to log six songs simultaneously since the Beatles. It was the biggest debut for a rock band since AC/DC sold 784,000 copies of Black Ice in 2008. Babel moved 600,000 copies in its first week, the best sales debut of the year until Taylor Swift came along. 2 on the Billboard 200 two years after its 2009 release, and it was still near the top of the chart when follow-up Babel dropped this September.
Then again, why wouldn’t a fame factory like Idol try to copy an approach that made Mumford & Sons the biggest band in the world? Just listen to these absurd statistics: Mumford’s debut album Sigh No More climbed all the way to No. Folk-rock - even inspirational folk-rock of the Mumford variety - is not a sound I expect to hear from an institution founded on wind-beneath-my-wings diva bluster.
“Home,” written as Idol’s Season 11 coronation song by Drew Pearson and Greg Holden, seems scientifically engineered to replicate the Mumford & Sons formula. The surprise was just that a fresh-faced Georgia boy like Phillips would be on the radio sounding like a bunch of fervid Englishmen who dress up like Jack White in Cold Mountain. Idol winners have a checkered history where actual pop stardom is concerned, but it wasn’t surprising to hear this year’s champ on the radio. Upon encountering the song again when it was smeared all over NBC’s Olympics coverage, I was dumbstruck to discover this was the first single from Idol winner Phillip Phillips, and not just the kind of dumbstruck you feel when you realize somebody really named his or her child Phillip Phillips. My brain probably generated a few alternate origin stories for “Home,” but none of them involved American Idol. The chorus went like this: “Settle down, it’ll all be clear / Don’t pay no mind to the demons that fill you with fear / The trouble it might drag you down / If you get lost, you can always be found / Just know you’re not alone / Because I’m gonna make this place your home.” This had to be Mumford & Sons, right? The earnest lead vocal was a robust tenor accented with folksy tremble and weathered beyond its years like distressed denim. The chorus reached to the heavens on the strength of acoustic guitars, arching choral harmonies and a relentless 4/4 thud maintained by kick drum and stomping feet.
What I do remember is that the song struck me as slightly unusual for WNCI, the local top-40 station we were bumping on that particular Macy’s trip.
So I’m not sure when or why I was in a mall parking lot with my wife when I first heard “ Home” on the radio this year. The incessant shopping trips start to make your life feel like a single, unbroken stream of home-furnishings-related commerce when you reach a certain age and all your friends get married.
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