As if it weren’t already bad enough that Prime Minister David Cameron is currently repping the supposed political opinions of the United Kingdom during his state visit to the US this week, the States is set to be given an equally dismal show of the nation’s musical talent tonight.
Chewy, sacking-clad nu-folk quartet Mumford & Sons – those of silly hats, mock-yokel anthems and recently announced "doom folk" direction – have been invited by No. 10 to play at tonight’s state dinner at the White House, report The Telegraph. The party, attended by over 1000 guests, will also feature a performance by US singer John Legend (Obama’s choice), and be attended by such luminaries as Richard Branson and Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville. It’s hard not to wonder whether Cameron’s working extra hard to remind the US notables that, yes, we’re all personally acquainted with Her Maj.
That said, it’s unsurprising that Cameron’s chosen Mumford & Co as his musical accompaniment – they form part of a wider vanguard of whimsical, back-to-basics art and culture that sits hand in hand with Conservative Big Society rhetoric. For more on the subject, read Joe Kennedy’s great piece from late last year, Big Society, Little Hope.
