Mumford & Sons have praised Gracie Abrams for their collaboration on the band’s newly released album, Prizefighter.
The US pop star appears on the track “Badlands”, which has already become a fan favourite just days after its release.
Appearing on the latest episode of the Rolling Stone Uncut podcast (watch or listen below), frontman Marcus Mumford revealed that they teamed up with Abrams after being introduced by The National’s Aaron Dessner, who co-produced Prizefighter and Abrams’ 2024 record, The Secret of Us.
“Gracie was there the day that Aaron first came in when we were mixing [2025 album] Rushmere,” Mumford recalled.
“[Dessner] came in and played us this thing he’d worked on with Jon Bellion. Gracie had heard it too, and she was like, ‘You guys have gotta write something on that.’ And I remember that day texting her the lyrics that I came up with for the first concept draft of ‘The Banjo Song,’ and she was like, ‘Dudes, you gotta do more.’
“So then I showed her ‘Prizefighter,’ and we showed her demos all the way along… then of course you know when we said if you wanna sing on any of this shit, you have an open invitation, and she picked ‘Badlands.’ What we didn’t know was that she’d turned that song into a duet. I was expecting maybe she might do some sort of Joni Mitchell-esque like ghostly BVs in the background of a chorus or something, and she sang it from the top.”
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When host Neil Griffiths suggested that Abrams is one of the foremost pop artists of this generation, Mumford was only too quick to agree.
“[…] I think her pop sensibilities are so dialled,” he said.
“The little ad libs that she does in that song… it’s the only pop song I’ve heard in 5’4. It is, in its bones, kind of a pop song, and that’s a lot thanks to her.
“She did it with Aaron in London. When they sent it back to us, we were just like, ‘Fuck yes, Gracie.’ She’s just really dialled at the moment. She’s got such a generous artistic spirit, and I think a lot of that comes from having hung out with Aaron as much as she has.”
Mumford & Sons will kick off their tour of Australia and New Zealand in April. Click here for more details.
