Prizefighter (album)

After completing their fifth album Rushmere (2025), Mumford & Sons continued to write and record music.^[2] During one of their sessions at Electric Lady Studios, the group ran into Aaron Dessner, who previously worked on their 2015 album Wilder Mind.^[2][3] They shared demo recordings with him while he played them songs he had written with Justin Vernon and Jon Bellion.^[2] Frontman Marcus Mumford travelled with Dessner to various parts of the world to write songs, including "Rubber Band Man".^[2][3] The album was recorded in ten days at Dessner's Long Pond Studios in New York,^[4][5] with the group writing "more songs than [they] had in the last seven years combined".^[6]

Unlike previous Mumford & Sons albums, Prizefighter features several featured collaborations with other artists, including Chris Stapleton, Hozier, Gigi Perez, and Gracie Abrams; group member Ben Lovett attributed their desire to work with other musicians to "a place of security that was formed through the work with Pharrell [on 2024's 'Good People'] and with Dave Cobb on Rushmere."^[3] The group sent a rough version of the album to Hozier, a longtime friend, and he asked to sing on "Rubber Band Man" after it "jumped out to him".^[6] Abrams' involvement began when she heard a version of "The Banjo Song", which was not originally written by the group, and encouraged Mumford to record it. She became "a sounding board for the entire album", providing feedback on lyrics throughout its production. She was offered to appear on any track and selected "Badlands", which she "envisaged that song as a duet" and lead to the group approaching it as "a Bonnie and Clyde-style getaway song".^[2] Mumford sent a demo of "Here" to Stapleton, his "favourite vocalist in the world right now", and asked him to feature on the track he described as their "Brokeback moment".^[6] Justin Vernon, Brandi Carlile, and Finneas also contributed to the album.^[3][6]

Mumford & Sons released "Rubber Band Man", a collaboration with Hozier, as a single on 24 October 2025.^[7] Prizefighter was officially announced on 29 October 2025,^[3] seven months after the release of Rushmere.^[8] The title track was released as the album's second single on 12 December 2025,^[9] followed by the third single "The Banjo Song" on 9 January 2026.^[10]

It was released on 20 February 2026 through Island Records and the group's label Gentlemen of the Road;^[2] it was initially scheduled for release on 13 February.^[5] To promote the album, Mumford & Sons hosted numerous listening events from 6–19 February 2026 at various American independent record stores.^[11]

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[12]