This Side of Mandolin Orange

Trains are a common romantic trope of country music — building up before hitting a powerful, soothing speed. The coal is in the engine for Mandolin Orange as the group’s sound grows with new tracks and fuller band, but the heart-warming purity remains simple.

The Carrboro duo of Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz is the smooth foundation to the alt-country folk group, rooted in traditional sensibility and tender harmonies. The group’s music is consistently grounded, yet the songwriting and musical arrangements have blossomed past the simple guitar and mandolin combination with the band’s third album, This Side of Jordan. “This feels like the most mature and cohesive record we have put out so far,” Frantz said of the new album’s overall mentality.

Marlin agreed and said from beginning to end, This Side of Jordan is comprised of songs that blend perfectly together.

“I think we were finally able to capture what we were going for on this record,” he said.

While the new album serenely glides across sentimental themes of love lost (“There Was a Time”) or a yearning serenade (“Waltz About Whiskey”, spirituality and biblical allusions are deeply embedded in This Side of Jordan. Frantz said neither she nor Marlin is very religious, but the music conjures a subtle atmosphere of gentle intimacy and inspiration through its spiritual essence.

“I think the spirituality that comes out in the record takes the things you would hear in church or read in the Bible and making them work for what we have come to believe at 26 years old,” Marlin said.

“It is kind of like taking some of those points and turning them around, like twisting them. And I think that is why they are so subtle, because it is not just hitting you over the head with the same old thing you’ve heard as far as that terminology goes.”

Instead, Marlin and Frantz make their spirituality down to earth and referential, such as with the bittersweet ballad “Hey Adam.” Marlin said he wrote the song after last year’s passage of Amendment One, the controversial amendment to North Carolina’s constitution banning same-sex marriage.

While the group’s albums have not strayed far from a signature sound, each has a distinct unifying theme.

“The first album, Quiet Little Room, was almost like the death record, almost all of the songs had to do with dying. Then Haste Make/Hard Hearted Stranger was much more of the relationship record,” Frantz said.

“And then this one is spiritual but still grounded.”

The songwriting isn’t the only part of Mandolin Orange that’s in transition. The duo has now added three more members to tour with them on the road, musicians who helped Marlin and Frantz record the album at Fidelitorium Recordings in Kernersville, N.C.

“When we first started playing with the full band it was a lot more rocked out and then we had to pull back from that and be like, ‘What are we doing?’” Frantz said.

However, Frantz said they’ve found a middle ground and the new songs are a “really solid medium between the duo and the rock ‘n’ roll Mandolin Orange.”

“Nobody is trying outplay anybody, everybody is just there for the sake of the song, so let’s all take a deep breath and just make it work,” Marlin added.

This Side of Jordan exhibits that the now five-piece group’s musical chemistry is as harmonious as Marlin’s and Frantz’s trademark vocals. The record marks another milestone for Mandolin Orange: it’s their first release on local label Yep Roc Records. Glen Dicker, co-owner of Yep Roc, said impressive songwriting is what initially persuaded him to sign the group, but the band has kept impressing him.

“I like that they can play as a duo or expand it to a bigger thing, I think they can go into any situation and come out sounding really great,” Dicker said.

Ryan Dimock, Yep Roc’s licensing and business affairs manager, said Mandolin Orange is ideal for the label, echoing Dicker’s enthusiasm for the band joining Yep Roc.

“Musically, they’re a great fit for us, but also you have their work ethic and they’re great to work with and are very nice people in general,” he said.

Frantz said they’re always cautious to the group’s low-key formula, but so far they’ve seen only improvements. “It does feel really good to have sort of a team behind you, somebody who is willing to invest in what you are doing,” she said.

Though big opportunities might lay on the horizon for Mandolin Orange, the band likes where it is now.

“We listen to a lot of different stuff, but we really like simple music. So we aren’t going to try and reinvent the wheel, or do something wacky just for the sake of doing it,” Frantz said.

“We just want to do it so the song sounds pretty.”

diversions@dailytarheel.com