It’s finals week. I have an exam in three hours that I could probably be studying for. But as mentioned before, this site is my procrastination outlet, so what better way of distracting myself from the ever-looming presence of studying than by writing about one of my favorite albums to listen to while I study: Such Jubilee.
I’d say I have been a folk music girly since my early interest in artists like Chris Stapleton, America, and Mumford & Sons, just for starters. When I happened upon “Daylight” from Watchhouse’s Such Jubilee album in the fall of 2022, I was sent into a deep grass roots music era. I jogged, strolled, basked in the autumn sun, appreciated the whistle of the wind, and romanticized the piles of decayed leaves and dying trees to these tracks, so it’s time to talk about them.
If I’m going to be for-real with you, I had never looked into Watchhouse until just now, and maybe these songs are a little more depressing than initially perceived. But here we go. Watchhouse, formerly known as Mandolin Orange, is composed of the married duo, Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz. Each takes numerous singing and instrumental roles (including that of a mandolin) throughout pretty much each song. Frantz’s delicateness couples beautifully and unfluidly with Marlin’s tougher vocals. After being Mandolin Orange for about a decade and having a child, Marlin decided it was time to rebrand, explaining, “‘Mandolin Orange was born out of my 21-year-old mind. The name isn’t what I strive for when I write.’”
Since the release of their album “Watchhouse” in 2021, they have been Watchhouse. One year later, some random video on TikTok introduced me to this heart-filled band that began in the very place I was in, Chapel Hill, NC (GO HEELS). Such Jubilee stands as the folk band’s fourth studio album, released on May 5 of 2015. As previously mentioned, “Daylight” drew me in. The playful banjo tune is their most successful song on the album.
Darling, you came to me
Like a beacon leading me home.
Spoiler alert! He sings of his sorrows, but compares her to the light in the start of a new day. She is the feeling of when you are opening your eyes and the blinds can’t manage to keep all of the rising sun’s rays out of your room, but you know it’s the start of a brand new era in your life.
“From Now On” is another one of my favorites. The initial strum of the guitar sends me in a spiral. This song highlights Frantz’s soft and harmonious voice as she sings of a treacherous past leading to a hopeful future (maybe, that was my light interpretation).
Anyway, some other honorable mentions could be “Settled Down” and “Rounder.” But the entire album flows so nicely together, that if you have 36 minutes and 7 seconds to dedicate to letting the album play the whole way through, I would. I could, and have, spent hours listening to Watchhouse’s fiddle-filled folk music, so you definitely should too.
Iz FM 
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