If you love Ariana Grande‘s “Breathin” but you wish it sounded more like Creed’s “One Last Breath,” then check out Mumford & Sons‘ new orchestral cover version from the BBC Live Lounge, which is looking a little bigger than you probably remember it. Here we’ve got the full lineup of Mumfords, the duo Pêtr Aleksänder (real names Tom Hobden and Eliot James), plus the members of the London Contemporary Orchestra, and together they’ve assembled an expletive-free yet overbearing version of the song from Grande’s recent album Sweetener.
It’s easy to see why Mumford & Sons would go for this particular cover selection: “Breathin” is one of the bigger centers of emotional gravity on Sweetener, and it’s a relatively straightforward celebration of resilience and perseverance, themes you don’t need to search the band’s catalog very deeply to find. Bringing in the orchestra isn’t a bad idea either, and happens to be something Grande already did for her own BBC special that aired earlier this month.
As pop hits go “Breathin” is not all that far from the Mumford comfort zone, but the banjo picking and orchestral build still might leave you missing the whimsy factor of the original. Mumford & Sons are currently promoting their new album Delta, which is a total slog. Hear their BBC Live Lounge cover of Ariana Grande’s “Breathin” below.
