Week in Review: Mumford & Sons Plan 'Doom Folk' Album

Marcus Mumford and Country Winston Marshall of Mumford & Sons perform at the 22nd Annual KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas Concert.

Jerod Harris/WireImage

Rolling Stone caught up with Grammy-nominated folk rockers Mumford & Sons this week, who told us all about their next album, which is due out sometime in 2012. "[It's] certainly more mature, I’d say," says bassist Ted Dwane. "The second record is just a reflection of our mindsets, where we’re all at. It’s doom folk, kind of like Black Sabbath meets Nick Drake."

Also this week, we contemplated the difference between the creative strategies of superstar divas Rihanna and Beyoncé, chatted with Florence and the Machine's Florence Welch about Katy Perry playing her in a Saturday Night Live sketch, talked to Roger Waters about the future of The Wall tour and learned about Kreayshawn's plans for her debut album.

Photos: Rockers Dressed as Santa Claus

We covered an all-star tribute concert to the late Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell,  reviewed Lady Gaga's appearance at Z100's Jingle Ball in New York and checked out a Dinosaur Jr. gig in which the band was interviewed by punk legend Henry Rollins. We also analyzed this week's pop charts, looked back on this week in rock history and, as always, reviewed all the week's biggest releases.   

Photos: Dimebash 2011 - Remembering Dimebag Darrell

In pop culture, Rob Sheffield listed off the 2011's best TV moments, Peter Travers praised the latest Mission: Impossible flick and we profiled superstar comedian Louis C.K. Also, we recapped the season finale of Boardwalk Empire as well as Glee and X Factor.

Photos: Random Notes

We also posted your favorite albums of 2011, as determined by a readers poll. Our question for you this week is: What is your favorite song of the year? You can answer on our website, at facebook.com/rollingstone or on Twitter using the #weekendrock hashtag.

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Song Stories

“Time to Pretend”

MGMT | 2008

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”

More Song Stories entries »

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