(Anti-)
RECOMMENDED
The Antlers' breakthrough Hospice was a bleak, drab affair; the follow-up Burst Apart an immersive tower of beautiful sound -- and this is somewhere in between, skewing toward the latter. There was a lot of press about it being some sort of highly ambitious project and/or exercise in defiant difficulty, but none of that comes across. It's mood music, something to change the color of a room for the moment, and it's splendid in that regard.
Just don't come looking for songs -- there's not a hook to be found across these four cuts, just a pervasive plodding along that's audibly the outgrowth of one-eye-open jamming. The music itself is competent enough but not beautiful; it's made such by (who else?) singer Peter Silberman's lilting, hypnotic vocals, always the lifeblood of the group. He holds your hand through lengthy dirges like "Endless Ladder" and provides a framework through which to appreciate this music's heavy, transformative but subtle charm. It's also not a bad introduction to the band; if you dig the vaguely despairing tiredness of it all, go pick up Hospice. If you like the singing and the music's ability to sustain a complex mood (for almost half an hour!) and wouldn't mind the injection of a little energy, try Burst Apart. Meanwhile, this is more than worthwhile to file in with your discreet-music collection.
[SEE ALSO:]
Hospice (2009)
Burst Apart (2011)
(together) EP (2011)
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