| "Woman" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byMumford & Sons | ||||
| from the albumDelta | ||||
| Released | 10 May 2019 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:34 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producer | Paul Epworth | |||
| Mumford & Sons singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Woman" is a song by Englishrock bandMumford & Sons. It was released as the third single[1] from their fourth studio album,Delta (2018), on 10 May 2019. The song was written byMarcus Mumford,Winston Marshall,Ben Lovett andTed Dwane.
Mumford & Sons started writing music for their fourth albumDelta several years before it was released.[2][3] While the other members were in Brooklyn, guitarist and banjoistWinston Marshall began work on some of the songs on the album inNashville,[4] where his then-girlfriendDianna Agron was filming a movie and they became engaged.[5][6][a] Marshall had been encouraged by sound engineer Garrett Miller to try more synthesized music, and composed the first verse and the falsetto hook of "Woman" in Nashville. When he took it back to the other members, pianistBen Lovett described first hearing the song by saying: "[it] just felt like something that was very, very different, but also felt really good. Maybe that was a moment that we felt unshackled by anything that we had done previously."[4] Marshall said that the song took a long time to finish, and "really came together" whenPaul Epworth, the album's producer, got involved.[2]
Marshall said that despite the song title, "Woman" is about the love shared by the couple.[8] It is anindie R&B song, and was influenced byJai Paul.[9]Rolling Stone felt that it sounds likeKhalid songs.[10] The song uses banjo, but it is disguised. Marshall used a five-stringcello banjo,[11] and there are three banjo tracks layered.[12] The banjo is also pitched down an octave, more like a synth track.[3]
A lyric video for "Woman" was released on 3 December 2018, with videography fromNational Geographic featuring a woodland full of butterflies and elephants roaming thesavanna,[13] as part of the "Mumford & Sons + National Geographic Present Delta" series. It had originally been shown on 15 November 2018 at a screening release of the visual album.[14]
A music video to accompany the release of the single was first published onYouTube on 4 June 2019.[15] The music video was filmed in New York, directed by James Marcus Haney and choreographed by Kristin Sudeikis. The video stars Forward Space company dancers Yeman Brown and Stephanie Crousillat as a couple dancing together, around a studio and in front of theNew York skyline,[2] captured on a handheld camcorder. The video came about after Marshall watched Brown perform an improvised dance routine toBeyoncé's "Halo" at Forward Space, having been introduced by Agron. Marshall said: "My heart went into my throat and I was quite literally moved to tears. It stole my breath away. I didn't know dance could make you feel that way."[1][8]
The cover art is ingrayscale and depicts a forearm with the word "cass" tattooed in a handwritten font.[16]
| Chart (2019) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[17] | 28 |
| Iceland (Tónlistinn)[18] | 23 |
| USHot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[19] | 45 |
| Region | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 10 May 2019 | Digital download |