Young Allies’ “Watchman” Treats History as Something You Can Sing Through

A song from 1059 is a strange place to begin, which is exactly why “Watchman” stands out. Young Allies, the New York-based ensemble led by Fritz Michel, have released the track as the latest single from their debut EP Fingers Entwined, out July 24. Its medieval origin gives the song an immediate talking point, but the track’s appeal is quieter than that.

The song is based on a troubadour piece from Provence, with Michel adapting the old image of the watchman who marks the end of night. In the original story, dawn is not simply a new beginning. It is an interruption, a signal that a private moment has run out of time. Young Allies hold onto that tension.

There is a long tradition of musicians borrowing from folk memory and older texts, but “Watchman” does not sound like a band attempting to claim authenticity through age. Instead, the song feels personal and somewhat fragile, as though the old material has been opened up and allowed to find a new emotional setting.

That setting is shaped by the full Young Allies lineup: Michel on vocals and guitar, Tosh Sheridan on guitar and co-production, Gavin Price on bass, Isaac Gardner on drums, Phil Kadet on keys, and Shelly Bhushan on vocals. The group’s collective singing and arrangement choices give the track a lived-in quality. It sounds like a band thinking together.

The single also helps clarify the larger shape of Fingers Entwined. Young Allies are interested in adaptation, but not in a narrow sense. The title track began with double-exposed Polaroids by Natalie White. “Are You In” draws from Robert Frost. “Watchman” reaches much further back, but all three examples point toward the same instinct: taking a source and using it to ask present-tense questions.

That approach connects to the band’s live development as well. Their recent LIC Bar residency allowed the group to work through songs in front of people, letting arrangements settle or loosen depending on the room. In an era when many songs seem designed to arrive fully branded, Young Allies’ willingness to let material evolve feels quietly appealing.

There are moments when the band’s conceptual interests could risk overshadowing the song itself, especially for listeners coming in cold. But “Watchman” largely avoids that issue because its core image is so direct. Everyone understands the feeling of wanting night to last a little longer.

As a preview of Fingers Entwined, “Watchman” gives Young Allies a distinct lane. The band is building songs from literature, theater, friendship, performance, and old fragments of human feeling. The result is not always immediate, but it has a pulse, and it suggests a debut EP with a real point of view.