It didn’t help that the first time I had a chance to listen to Hospice by The Antlers was while lying in bed ready to fall asleep as the album is mostly based on soft, melancholic tunes and the sleepy sounds of Peter Silberman’s voice. After giving it a second fair try, I discovered the album to be an unusual level of brilliant. Upon listening to this album, one can only expect to find themselves drowning in thoughts and images of death, terminal illness, nightmares, the sound of dripping morphine and most importantly, a dying patient whose lover dwells in his own powerlessness in not being able to do anything about her suffering. WhileHospice is undeniably depressing, it still somehow manages to render itself beautifully with the direction of vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Peter Silberman.

Hospice is a concept album by the Brooklyn band that had been taking shape for two years in an apartment bedroom in New York. As the album takes on themes such as love, death, illness and abuse, it is able to transpose such themes into something that sounds like it could be the score to a film directed by Bruce Macdonald (The Tracey Fragments, Pontypool) – and let that be a good thing. Its soothing soundscapes and the rise and fall of instrumental intensity could very well make up the soundtrack to a trippy indie film. The use of ambient noise alone creates beautifully sad (and sadly beautiful) images in correspondence to its profound lyrics and interpretive imagery. Many argue that the record is a key example of some great narrative songwriting. (“Sylvia, I only talk when you are sleeping / That’s when I tell you everything / And I imagine that somehow you’re going to hear me…” - Sylvia). As the album mainly follows a protagonist who suffers relentlessly from watching his terminally ill lover slowly die, it takes the listener through moments of love, loss and grief.

With an album that is built on an angle that is so deep and internal, it is often difficult to understand what exactly Silberman is pertaining to. Whether it is understood from a literal perspective – the story of a man who refuses to leave his terminally ill lover’s side, or through metaphorical interpretation – the idea of caring for someone who does not necessarily desire you to be there (“You said you hated my tone, it made you feel so alone and so you told me I ought to be leaving / But something kept me standing by that hospital bed / I should have quit but instead I took care of you…” - Kettering), the album is open to questioning and interpretation which only draws the listener even more.

Overall, Hospice, while not the most brightly polished record to exist, surely captures you in a mindful listening of deep human emotion as well as the concept of death on universal and personal levels.

For more from The Antlers,
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/theantlers
Website: http://www.antlersmusic.com/

Make sure to catch The Antlers open for Frightened Rabbit at the Horseshoe on July 22nd! Tickets are still on sale for $13.50!

By Charise Aragoza