What made ye olde charmers Mumford & Sons great (in addition to being something like the indie-folk Soggy Bottom Boys) was that it didn’t seem like they were shoving their faith on anyone – whether it be figures in their songs or members of their audience. Not so with Matthew Mole: “I guess that I like you/I have told you these things/So that you would not abandon your faith,” wheedle-whispers Matthew on delicate ditty “Have I Told You”. In the same breath the folky clumsily tells his would-be paramour/convert “You are the puddle of mud/In the pigsty of my life”. Like the best of Christian folk-rock, the (non)figure of God could easily be replaced with that of a lover: “You are the way home” emotes Mole on “Autumn”; “I’ll find mine on the right of Your side” he heart-bleeds on banjo-stamper and “Little Lion Man” of the album “Take Yours, I’ll Take Mine”. Vocally adopting Owl City’s hyper-popular emotitronica inflection (“It’s Simple, Child”) and musically lifting generic hand-clap, acoustic-strum indie-folk, The Home We Built sounds great – safe, sentimental, popular. It’s the message that’s the issue. “If you run run run/Run away, disobey your father/Wait and see/There’s a whale is the see [sic]/For you,” warns Mole on Moby Dick-symbolism-inspired “Whale”. Well, call me fucking Ishmael. God knows (or maybe He does?) how Mole got one-up on the Constitution – his songbook preaches intolerance for non-believers. “Jesus lead the way” out of this cul-de-sac of conservatism.