There are great bands. There are talented musicians. There are folks destined to make a joyful noise together. And then there is an extremely small pool of artists who exist on an entirely different plane. Those whose music is transcendent, transformative and pure magic. Mandolin Orange exists on that latter plane and the announcement of a new record out early next year is sure to only further cement the fact that what this band is capable of is a thing of beauty.

With that announcement comes to release of the first single from the album. ‘Time We Made Time‘ is songwriter Andrew Marlin’s ode to taking a step back to allow things to wash over you. Allowing the hypothetical river to clean your downtrodden soul or sweep you under the cascading white water. A slow plodding waltz of sorts juxtaposes with that threatening, perilous thematic nature of the song. Marlin’s voice takes center stage and the harmonies that Mandolin Orange has become so well known and loved for, courtesy of Emily Frantz, guild the edges of an already beautiful portrait of Marlin’s heart. He has such a way of emoting tenderness and vulnerability that even in his seemingly effortless delivery, the result is overwhelming. Melancholia, sadness and triumph all weave their ways into the deep and refreshing basin of the band’s songs. There is beauty in sadness and emotion and Mandolin Orange are some of the best purveyors of turning those oft bleak feelings into something powerful and light.

Marlin told NPR he “was toying with the idea of repressed emotion as a river that keeps swelling and swelling and eventually either running itself out or carrying you with it.” That much is evident based on lines like the below, and for this band’s uncanny ability to pull those feelings from our chest, we will be forever thankful.

its time we made time, just for talking

its time we made time, to heal

but I know she’ll be there when I’m lonesome

and tell me just how I feel

 

Mandolin Orange is easing down the rest of this year, but hits the road again hard in February and March in support of this new record. Check out their tour dates and be sure to get out and see them when they swing through your area.

More info: North Carolina-based singer-songwriter Andrew Marlin and multi-instrumentalist Emily Frantz — announce the release of Tides Of A Teardrop, their first new music since 2016. Out February 1, 2019, on Yep Roc Records — their fourth album for the venerable label — Tides Of A Teardrop finds Mandolin Orange exploring the intimate grief at the frayed edges of their songwriting and confronting loss head-on, facing down the depths of despair and emerging with something renewed and redemptive. It’s a progressive, personal statement from one of roots music’s most thoughtful young groups, on the cusp of yet another prodigious breakthrough.