Delta is the fourth studio album by British folk rock band Mumford & Sons. It was released on 16 November 2018 through Gentlemen of the Road, Island Records and Glassnote.^[1] The album was recorded at The Church Studios in London with producer Paul Epworth.^[1] The album was supported by three singles, "Guiding Light", "Beloved", and "Woman", and managed to reach number one on the US Billboard 200 and number two on the UK Albums Chart. Delta was their last album with guitarist and banjoist Winston Marshall before his departure in 2021.

The band recorded more than 25 songs with Paul Epworth at The Church Studios, and were intent on keeping the "collaborative spirit" of their live shows and 2016 EP Johannesburg.^[2] Marcus Mumford has said that much of the album was recorded in "non-gender specific Friday night lads sessions" with friends where they would play music, "smoke cigarettes and have a great time".^[2] Around 100 people were involved in these sessions, with some being featured on the record, including American singer-songwriters Maggie Rogers and Gill Landry.^[2]

Delta has been called an album that "draw[s] on the shared experience of being on and off" tour, and distinct from the band's "anthemic" previous album, 2015's Wilder Mind, in that it is more "tender", "introspective and reflective".^[1] It incorporates elements of electronica, rap and jazz.^[2] It has been said to still contain the "intimacy and jubilance" that the band is known for,^[3] but keyboard player Ben Lovett said it is also concerned with "the four Ds: death, divorce, drugs and depression".^[2] Mumford spoke to Annie Mac about reusing folk instruments they did not use on Wilder Mind but being "conscious [about] how we can make these instruments sound not like these instruments which opened up a whole new world for us".^[1]

Larry Fritzmaurice of Pitchfork compared the album to pop acts Imagine Dragons and Twenty One Pilots, while heavily comparing the album's length and structure to British rock band Coldplay's album X&Y, noting they both share an "imposing length".^[4] Piper Westrom of Riff Magazine stated that, in contrast to Wilder Mind's rock-oriented sound, Delta is a pop album.^[5]

More information Aggregate scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	5.5/10[11]
Metacritic	59/100[12]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[13]
Consequence of Sound	B−[14]
The Daily Telegraph	[15]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[16]
The Guardian	[17]
The Independent	[18]
NME	[19]
Pitchfork	5.8/10[4]
Q	[20]
Rolling Stone	[21]
The Times	[22]

Close

Delta received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 59, based on 18 reviews.^[12]

Delta debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 237,000 album-equivalent units, including 214,000 pure album sales.^[23] It is Mumford & Sons' third US number-one album.^[23] It was beaten to the top spot in the UK by Michael Bublé's Love.^[24]

All songs written and performed by Mumford & Sons.