From the foreboding flickering of “Prologue,” one can tell The Antler’s Hospice isn’t going to be a pleasant journey. Musical tremors of death course through this album about a hospice worker and patient coping with the inevitability of death. While that may not sound appealing, the execution is so graceful that it makes for an album that cannot be missed.
The Antlers is music from the mind of Peter Silberman, who began The Antlers as a solo project but has since expanded it into a true band. His voice is of the airy and wispy indie school. They’re similar to those of Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, except The Antlers is not dreadfully boring like Bon Iver. Unlike most singers who fall into this category, his vocals have a piercing quality. When he sings on Hospice he becomes a true mouthpiece of the dying. When he expresses the characters anxieties in emotional bursts (like on “Sylvia”) it is genuine.
The instrumentals across the songs on Hospice are very similar. It’s mainly a blend of soft electronic ambiance, simple acoustic and electric guitars, and far away drums. While normally such an unchanging musical landscape grows tiresome, it is not the case with this album because it is all setting a mood. All the electronic buzzes sound like a radio signal of a person fading out as you drive away from it. It moves the listener, not allowing them to become detached.
It’s amazing how accurate and potent Silberman’s lyrics are. He is both blunt and delicate with his sentiments throughout the album, which is really the only way to deal with the issue of dying. Early on “Kettering”‘s admission that, “I didn’t believe them when they told me that there was no saving you,” sets a tone that anyone who has had a terminally ill loved one can relate to. Likewise, when Silberman coos that, “I’d happily take all of those bullets inside you and put them inside of myself,” on “Atrophy,” it expresses just how desperate these times can be. The strongest of the lyrical work can be found on “Bear” which compares the disease to the vicious animal in a finely detailed metaphor while examining just how messed up an youthful death is. The line that really stands out is, “We’re fucked and not getting unfucked soon.” It is a perfect example of blatant yet emotionally precise lyricism.
The album’s high point is “Two,” Arcade Fire-like pop song that tightropes the line between depression and hope while dealing with the connectivity of people with limited time. It’s jaunty nature makes this inherent struggle irresistibly listenable. This is the kind of track that is powerful enough to get you dancing while tears run down your face.
As the album nears it’s inevitable gloomy ending, the tracks become even more detailed. “Wake,” the song where death finally befalls the patient, brilliantly uses exasperated gasps for air as chilling percussion and the song ends with the symbolic sound of a closing door hinge. However, Silberman acutely realizes that the story doesn’t end with the death, and wraps up the narrative by examining the anguish of the survivor on “Epilogue.”
Hospice is a viscerally brutal piece of artwork. It’s akin to film like “Hard Candy” or “Raging Bull” that you have to see once, but take such an emotional toll that you don’t feel like watching again. It’s a gut-wrenching and heartbreaking album, but it needs to be heard.
Review Score: 9.0
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