You say it to yourself sometimes. A band releases an album, it becomes an instant favorite and you ponder how they could possibly outdo themselves? Your favorite songs in sequence, one after the other. A masterpiece. How could that possibly be duplicated? It’s a rarity to find a band, a songwriter, a collection of artists that can gather in a studio and craft something that evokes that feeling, to do it once, nevermind 2 or 3 times in a row. A group that has the innate ability to overpower you with emotion with a verse or a simple harmony or a floating fiddle line. Those people are incredibly sparse in the seemingly endless landscape of music today. So when they come along, you hold tight. In the case of Mandolin Orange my grip is white knuckle, you will have to pry these records from my clenched hands. I am never going to let go and their latest record just fully perpetuates that they are the pinnacle of musicianship and songwriting in the roots music community today. 

Tides kicks in with “Golden Embers” and while there is some movement and urgency, the somber coloring of the fiddle and guitar lines weaving with Andrew Marlin’s voice sets a mood for the duration of the record that is both beautiful and melancholy. The simplicity of the harmonies and line delivery anything but that, as its complexity is actually a thing to marvel. The way in which the aggregate of the band flows together so seamlessly, but each part on its own, brutally powerful in its own right.

 

 The record drafts steadily into the third single off of the album, “The Wolves“. A deep current of reverb soaked electric guitar notes and mandolin tremolo, Marlin’s voice delivering the first lines like an Old Celtic blessing or a sermon.  

 

 The next two tracks feature Emily Frantz on lead vocal duties, and as usual, she is remarkable. Both “Into the Sun” and “Like You Used To” have such light and flow. Movement and vibration. The latter track having a bit more of a driving feel. What is often so incredible about this band is how either Marlin or Frantz can be leading a tune, and it still feels so Mandolin Orange. They can take the passenger or driver seat on a tune and their musical connection is effortless and so damn undeniably wonderful. It has the feel and flow of a song that gets you to uncontrollably move along to the rhythm, but will all the depth and brilliance of the best songwriters and performers in the community.

It’s that depth, that ability to take a feeling most frequently attributed to a style of music that the greater music industry may not box you into, and excel with it that further perpetuates this band as one of the premier artists in the landscape. The thump of the bass, the two step motion and relaxed honky tonk sound of “Lonely All the Time” that frees Mandolin Oranges from any constraints. Breaking the chains of quiet folk driven by harmonies into a stratosphere where few other acts can live…and they have adapted to that place in a way that is completely natural. The band that they have forged around songs and a story that began as two voices and two instruments is rock solid. As if the upright, keys, electric guitar and drums were always part of this sound. Its seamless and a testament to both the prowess of Josh Oliver, Clint Mullican and Joe Westerlund and Andrew and Emily’s ability to foster these relationships and have musical conversations with folks that result in pure beauty.

Its easy to get caught up in the purity and openness that the band lays out in its arrangements and performance and forget just how brilliant of a songwriter Andrew Marlin is. The king of the one liners that resonant with you for days on end. For songwriters, leaving them wishing they dreamt up that line first. For poets, forging an undying love for his words and wishing a book of lyrics accompanied the record. For the average fan, giving them a reason to learn and live within each verse and sing along.

The closing track and the first single released off of the album, “Time We Made Time“, is a delicate waltz. An exemplary model of how the band can say so much with very little. A hollow chambered mastering application, two voices and the remaining pieces of the band feeling somewhat distant in the cavern of emotion that Marlin and Frantz’s voices provide. Utter perfection.

 

Beautiful, exquisite, masterpiece. You could spend all day thesaurus.com-ing the hell out of all those terms and still come up short with properly condoning how this band makes a listener feel and what they are able to capture emotionally in their music. Get the record, go see them when they come through your town (if that show isn’t already long sold out) and support artists like Mandolin Orange. Artists with the rare ability to take a hold over you and lift your spirit in a way that most other artists can only dream of doing. This is the real stuff folks.

Go buy this album today.