Monday 16 May 2011
Exploding
I don’t know what Pete Silberman was up to when he green-lighted “Parentheses” to be the first sample of Burst Apart eager fans of The Antlers would get to hear. Upon first listen, the falsetto-straddling experiment-in-sound didn’t bode well for the follow-up to 2009′s majestic Hospice, an album that epitomized word-of-mouth frenzy. Were The Antlers pulling a Radiohead move, rejecting their success and planning a move to the extreme ends of the musical spectrum for their next record? Had Silberman decided to abandon the brilliant songwriting and storytelling that so captivated listens in 2009 for something more esoteric, abstract, and less personal?
Are my empty speculations and theorizing a sign that I’ve slipped a little bit closer to paranoia? Should someone just tell me to relax, it’s just a fucking record, not the end of the world?
Once Burst Apart arrived last week the answers to all my questions were clear: Sort of; Not so much; Definitely; Yes and as soon as possible.
Burst Apart moves on from the storytelling and thematic connections that made the songs of Hospice hang together beautifully; instead it’s Silberman’s incredible talent as a songwriter and arranger that works as the through-line of the record. Atmospheric electronic washes, subtle, sometimes muted embellishments (horns, percussion, plucked guitar) and a pace that suggests these songs are in no rush to get to the finish line (three of 10 break the five-minute barrier but none go past six) punctuate the schizophrenic “Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out”, “I Don’t Want Love” and “Rolled Together”. In context of the whole record, “Parentheses” isn’t the sore thumb is initially appeared to be, and is in fact one of the album’s highlights.
The prospect of having to follow Hospice was probably a daunting one for Silberman. The weight of expectation was certainly heavy (in my ’09 year-end list alone I called The Antlers “one of the most exciting and interesting bands in America” and Silberman “2009′s most striking songwriter”), especially given the fact that Hospice was Silberman’s third record under The Antlers name (the first as a three-piece) and many were (and some still are) confusing it as a debut. For the record, Hospice, like Uprooted before it, was originally self-released by Silberman before being picked up by indie label Frenchkiss. It was made without influence of record execs and marketing hounds. As Burst Apart comes to a close with “Putting The Dog To Sleep”, one thing is clear: Silberman’s label bosses aren’t messing with a proven thing. The notion of a “difficult” follow up is put to sleep with that proverbial dog. Burst Apart is the moment when The Antlers kick open the door in the attic of the universe and hopefully get the global recognition they deserve.
The Antlers – Parentheses by Frenchkiss
MP3: The Antlers “Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out”
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This entry was posted on Monday, May 16th, 2011 at 8:35 am and is filed under MP3, QBiM SPiNS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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