Hey, remember when the 1975 were covering Ariana Grande in the BBC Live Lounge? That was a time, right? That was three days ago. That was the long-lost era when a real British rock band would cover Ariana Grande in the BBC Live Lounge. That time is gone. Now we have to deal with fucking Mumford & Sons covering Ariana Grande in the BBC Live Lounge. Everything is going to hell.

Mumford & Sons, the former arena-bluegrass belters and current Jordan Peterson fans, are in the midst of promoting their new album Delta, currently the #1 album in America. As part of their promotional duties, they’ve made the Live Lounge pilgrimage. And as their traditional cover selection, they have selected “Breathin,” the modern classic from Grande’s recent album Sweetener.

If Mumford were still the type of band where the singer banged on a kick drum while performing and the banjos did banjo-y things, this might’ve been halfway interesting. But Mumford, Etc. have gone deep into generic-plod territory in recent years, so this is just some string-soaked halfway-rock-star bullshit. Mumford performed with the help of the side-project duo Pêtr Aleksänder and with the London Contemporary Orchestra, and they turned it into the sort of song that would completely evaporate from your brain on contact if you heard it on CVS speakers. Watch it happen below.

Remember when I wrote this? I would not write that today.