Mumford & Sons have unveiled the new video for their single ‘Ditmas’ taken from their critically acclaimed third album Wilder Mind.
The title of the track was inspired by the location of Ditmas Park, a neighbourhood in Brooklyn which is home to The National singer Aaron Dessner‘s studio where Mumford & Sons wrote much of the album. The song follows the introductory singles of ‘Believe’ and ‘The Wolf’.
The video was shot on location in Kiev, Ukraine, by director Alex Southam who has directed videos for the likes of Alt-J and John Grant. When commenting on the work, Southam said ‘Whilst recently filming in Ukraine, I started doing some research and learning about Ukrainian Cossacks ‘ their heritage, history, and associated spiritualism. I was surprised to learn that there is a small but ardent population who keep the traditions going.’
‘The narrative for Ditmas came about whilst discussing another idea for the band, when the suggestion of a cossacks were mooted. Cossacks are synonymous with incredible horesemanship, so it felt like a natural fit. Our character (Evgeniy) in the video has grown up within a cossack community.’
‘The video was shot in the stunning countryside surrounding Kiev which was something to behold. I spent a long time discussing our narrative and approach with Evgeniy, breaking down our narrative beat, as well as I could given the language barrier. Whilst the shoot was pretty brutal and unforgiving – particularly for our hero – we captured something really special.’
The band is currently on tour in Europe at the following locations
30th June – Rock In Rome, Rome, Italy
1st July – Pistoia Blues Festival, Pistoia, Italy
3rd July – Open’er Festival, Gdynia, Poland
4th July – Goffertpark, Nymegen, Netherlands
5th July – Main Square Festival, Arras, France
7th July – Olympia, Paris, France
9th July – Bilbao Live BBK, Bilbao, Spain
10th July – Nos Alive, Lisbon, Spain
17th July – Waldbuhne Berlin, Berlin, Germany
18th July – Waldbuhne Berlin, Berlin, Germany
28th August – Reading Festival, UK
29th August – Leeds Festival, UK
