"Cannibal" is the debut solo single by

Mumford & Sons Mumford & Sons are a British folk rock band formed in London in 2007. The band consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, drums), Ted Dwane (vocals, double bass, bass guitar), and Ben Lovett (British musician), B ...

frontman

Marcus Mumford Marcus Oliver Johnstone Mumford (born 31 January 1987) is an American-born British singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is best known as the lead singer of the folk band Mumford & Sons. He also plays a number of instruments with ...

, released on 14 July 2022 by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

. It is the lead single from his solo debut album ''

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'', and was produced by

Blake Mills Blake Mathew Simon Mills (born September 21, 1986) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and composer based in California. He is known for production and guitar work on albums and singles by many artists, including Fiona Apple, ...

Style and reception

Per ''

Consequence Consequence may refer to: Philosophy, science and social sciences * Logical consequence, also known as a ''consequence relation'', or ''entailment'' * Consequent, in logic, the second half of a hypothetical proposition or consequences * Consequent ...

''s Abby Jones, the song is "a somber, rootsy tune that feels a bit like a pared-down version of Mumford & Sons' arena-sized

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

—that is, until around the three-minute mark, when the song transforms from an acoustic ballad into a rousing barnburner", and has lyrics which "sees Mumford break away from a parasitic relationship" with lyrics including "You took the first slice of me and you ate it raw/ Ripped at it with your teeth and your lips like a cannibal/ You fucking animal" in the first verse and "Help me know how to begin again" in the song's climax. '' DIY''s Emma Swann notes "Cannibal" as one of the songs on the album where Mumford "strips it right back", bringing out "a warm quality to his songwriting that seeps through." ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''s Helen Brown notes a moment where the song's "suppressed, acoustic intensity ... explodes into a synth-backed crescendo", with "Mumford's big yearning yawp of a voice ... buried behind the instrumentation", "as though he's handing over the experience." Brown calls it an effective technique and "evocative of the hushed circle of chairs at a

support group In a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic. Members with the same issues can come together for sharing coping str ...

." ''NME''s Elizabeth Aubrey emphasises the song's "downcast

fingerpicking Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with a single plectr ...

", calling it "sonically sparse". In an interview with '' GQ''s Zach Baron, Mumford confessed the lyrics were about his experience being sexually abused as a child, with the song containing lyrics explicitly about the matter such as the lines "I can still taste you and I hate it" and "That wasn't a choice in the mind of a child and you knew it".

Music video

A music video for the song was released 18 July 2022, helmed by first-time music video director

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

. The video was shot in a high school gym in New York and filmed in

one take A one-shot film (also known as a one-take film, single-take film, or continuous shot feature film) is a full-length movie filmed in one long take by a single camera, or manufactured to give the impression it was. Use and theory In a 2019 artic ...

entirely on Spielberg's phone. The crew also included Spielberg's wife

Kate Capshaw Kathleen Sue Spielberg (''née'' Nail; born November 3, 1953), known professionally as Kate Capshaw, is an American former actress and painter. She is best known for her portrayal of Willie Scott, an American nightclub singer and performer in '' ...

as producer, art director and dolly grip; Mumford's wife

Carey Mulligan Carey Hannah Mulligan (born 28 May 1985) is a British actress. She has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award. She w ...

as costumer and sound engineer; and Kristie Macosko Krieger as co-producer and

behind-the-scenes https://www Googlefinans.co= In filmmaking, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a documentary film that features the production of a film or television program. This is often referred to as the EPK ( ...

videographer.

Personnel

– vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, drums, songwriting *

– producer, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, drums, percussion, organ, synthesiser, mixing engineer *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Do ...

– cymbals * Joseph Lorge – recording and mixing engineer * Patricia Sullivan – mastering engineer * Danielle Goldsmith, Gabe Lowry, Logan Taylor, and Scott Moore – assistant recording engineers

References

{{Authority control 2022 singles 2022 songs Marcus Mumford songs Capitol Records singles Songs about sexual assault Songs about child abuse Song recordings produced by Blake Mills Songs written by Blake Mills Songs written by Marcus Mumford Music videos shot in the United States Music videos directed by Steven Spielberg