Many people will hear Mandolin Orange at some point and quickly think, “Another southern folky band?” Well to that I say, “Better a gothic folk band that’s actually from the South than some more that were born in California, educated in Seattle and now working in Brooklyn! What do they know about Southern gothic?!”

"Haste Make/Hard Hearted Stranger"

… That said, yes, Mandolin Orange is another southern folky band.

Hailing from Chapel Hill, NC, the co-ed duo has been at it for a few years now, with their first release, “Quiet Little Room” out in May 2010. It garnered some good reviews from smaller media outlets, and they’ve done a good bit on the road, including a stop in Athens at the Melting Point last April.

After reading that, you may be a little surprised to hear that the new release, out Nov. 8, is actually a double release: two full LPs, 18 songs total. A little ambitious for a relatively young band? Maybe.

It seems smart to me though, in the end.

First of all, this “southern folk-y” style that we’re talking about is very broad and has been used to describe artists ranging from a more country style to straight blue grass to nuanced indie folk acts. Mandolin Orange fills up every inch of the broad category, and it’s kind of helpful to split it up a bit.

The first half (second half? I don’t know, the first half I listened to), “Haste Make,” features a backing rhythm section behind the multi-instrumentalist core of Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz. “Hard Hearted Stranger,” which I believe is a more accurate representation of its regular shows, is just the duo, set on a very stark, empty back drop.

Both LPs do a fair bit of roaming around within the roomy southern folk landscape, touching on country shuffles, occasionally getting extremely stark and bluesy. Traditional influences are strong, suffice it to say. Nonetheless, the duo is playing originals: the melodies are familiar, but it’s got enough freshness to assure you that they are from a college town.

The feeling of the songs is equally dynamic. Overall, they lean towards the wistful melancholy side, but the melodies are so pretty and the harmonies are so tight, if the mood were right these could easily be roadtrip-through-the-country-on-a-sunny-day kind of songs, too.

Southern gothic meets Southern comfort — something like that.

The most cohesive element is the chemistry of Frantz and Marlin. Their harmonies create that wonderful tension that is simultaneously delicate and unbreakable, incredible prominent and unnoticeable: how harmonies should sound.

All this good stuff aside, it’s not incredibly original. There are a lot of bands out there doing this kind of thing right now … The Avett Bro.’s, Iron and Wine, Allison Krauss, etc. That certainly doesn’t detract from the quality, but I’d like to see a band as talented as this push themselves, try to take on something really new with the songwriting talents that they have.

I think that comes out the most in the “Haste Make” half of this record. Frantz and Marlin clearly have their acts together as far as songwriting, and incorporating in the other elements, including electric guitars with the bass and drums, makes the whole sound infinitely more dynamic.

And if nothing else, if Mandolin Orange expands at least no one will be able to say that they’re just another southern folky band.