Watchhouse (formerly Mandolin Orange) share the video for the loping, romantic “Upside Down,” the latest single from their new self-titled album out August 13. Directed by Elizabeth Weinberg and inspired by what Watchhouse’s Emily Frantz calls “the notion of having missed someone your whole life before you meet them,” the video captures a fleeting gas station ballet.
Director Elizabeth Weinberg commented: “I wanted to create a video about the wild, transformative experience of having a child that was more universal, something anyone could appreciate—the feeling of meeting someone whom you feel like you’ve known your whole life. I took inspiration from stories I’ve read about time slips: people driving into strange old towns on road trips, and the places they see and people they interact with are gone the next time they try to find them. I like the idea of the transient nature of the experience and the magic of this quick but meaningful interaction.”
Says Watchhouse’s Emily Frantz about the track: “This song had a long and generous evolution. Andrew kept writing more parts and every time we’d think it was getting too twisty, we’d realize it was too late and the sections had become one. There are so many words here that resonate deeply, especially the notion of having missed someone your whole life before you meet them. In our case the inspiration came from a newborn, but it could be any person or relationship. I love how Elizabeth Weinberg’s video for the song expresses that feeling perfectly.“
Produced by Andrew Marlin and Josh Kaufman (Bonny Light Horseman, The National), Watchhouse is a bold evolution from a group that for 10 years “redefined roots music for a younger generation” (Washington Post) as Mandolin Orange. MOJO, in a rave 4 star review, says that Watchhouse “celebrates the highs of new parenthood in all its dazed, anxious tenderness,” while American Songwriter says the album “may be their best work to date.”
“We’re different people than when we started this band,” Marlin says, reflecting on all these shifts. “We’re setting new intentions, taking control of this thing again.”
And watch the gorgeous and geometric video for “Better Way” (directed by Lachlan Turczan), which, according to Rolling Stone, “finds their typical pristine acoustic picking collides with hazy, dream-like psychedelia”: https://found.ee/
