Mandolin Orange- Tides of a Teardrop (Bluegrass Album Review)

By Michael Momper

Music is an art form that, at its best, is meant to fill a particular space, or indulge in a certain mood in order to relate to listeners and find the commonality between Man. Bluegrass is a genre that oftentimes recalls one to the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, or the simple pleasures of the "down home" South. It is a genre where, much like country, the best lyrical poetry is often found through honest storytelling or the celebration of the roots of society, like family, faith and hard work. Mandolin Orange is a duo, a married couple in fact, from North Carolina. Up until now, I have returned to them frequently as a very relaxing bluegrass band with tasteful mandolin and guitar. Their lyrics are usually quite friendly and paint calming portraits of nature when they are in top form ("the starlight and the sea, together form eternity, and the wind moves like an echo, as the world drops off to sleep"- from their 2016 song Echo). The benefit of Andrew and Emily's marriage in life and in music is that they often seem to be on the same wavelength, locked in musically and exchanging very pleasant harmonies. The only downfall is that occasionally they could seem so close as to alienate the listener, engaging in some kind of overly-sweet whispering of sweet nothings to each other, like some kind of musical pillow talk. Unfortunately, their latest release, "Tides of a Teardrop" is absolutely riddled with this type of lovey-dovey annoyance.

Mandolin Orange has really phoned it in on this album. It sounds like it was recorded on one lazy Sunday morning, with breakfast in bed, while Andrew and Emily kind of just quietly fiddle around to each other's enjoyment. It does not feel organic and is perhaps the most boring record I have heard since Mumford and Sons' Delta. Mandolin's music usually has a very attractive and tasteful earthy feel, and at their best, I like them even more than the early Mumford and Sons. But this album is so slow and quiet that I wondered if they had even been checked for a pulse (or perhaps were taking downers on top of being in bed on a summery Sunday morning).

Unlike all of their previous releases, I feel like this record was just a forced way to have new things to play on the road. Nothing interesting is being said in these songs- worse, almost all of the themes are banal and clichéd poems of lost love or "rekindling" a spark of some sort. The first two songs are pretty decent, though very slow and soft as is typical. The third single, "The Wolves", is the second song of the album and everything is downhill after this. The lack of emotion is palpable, as both Andrew and Emily have very boring vocal deliveries, which is definitely unusual even on their slow songs from previous albums. I even felt like all of the rhyme schemes were very uninspired, and perhaps I'm being overly harsh with this criticism- but almost the whole album is G chords and C chords, so it felt like there were a few phrases that they latched onto (like "tides of a teardrop suspended in heaven" from the album's penultimate track) that were just kind of forced into songs despite the fact that they weren't delivered in an interesting way or molded into the music. I found two tracks in particular, "When She's Feeling Blue" and "Like You Used To", to be almost totally unlistenable, as they are so quiet and petty that I feel like they could have just been a couple notes fluttering in the wind only to pass me by in less than an instant. They are absolutely forgettable.

I feel bad giving this usually thoughtful, sincere, and tasteful band a poor review. But this album just does absolutely nothing to further their artistic vision, nor does it provide any semblance of ambition along the way. I might end up listening to "The Wolves" again; however, the rest of the album has come and gone with the breeze. Let me know what you think and please feel free to strenuously object if you think  I am missing something here.


Rating: 25/100