AFTER 2009’s Hospice, a heartwrenching concept album divulging a cancer sufferer’s relationship with her hospital worker, Brooklyn threepiece The Antlers found themselves near the head of the criticallyacclaimed indie table.
If follow-up Burst Apart had a sound leaning towards stadium rock balladry, then their fifth album Familiars finds the band in a more controlled state.
Layers of electronic reverb have been stripped back in favour of bluesy guitars and twinkling pianos, creating a feeling of contentment which permeates the whole album.
Although this mellower aesthetic negates the sort of visceral emotional punch ubiquitous on Hospice, album opener Palace proves that lead singer Peter Silberman’s melancholic falsetto can still make hairs stand on end.
Alistair Mills
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