The Antlers
Familiars
June 16 2014 (Transgressive)
8/10
Words: Alison Mack
Pete Silberman and his Brooklyn bandmates return with their fifth Antlers album. And whilst some will not find it as agreeable as their previous two albums, it is still one guaranteed to leave you feeling emotionally fractured - in no large part as a result of Silberman’s plaintive tones that can leave you hung out to dry. However, the one aspect that goes against this latest work is its lack of bringing forth anything that is really new. All very lovely, admittedly, from the opening piano strains and muted horns of 'Palace' the album gently tugs at the heartstrings across ‘Intruders’, ‘Revisited’, right through to closing track ‘Refuge’.
While 'Familiars' is no 'Burst Apart', it is one that warrants repeated plays to draw out the little nuances of lyric lines and atmosphere. There is never likely to be any major surprises with The Antlers, and nor possibly would one want there to be; they do what they do best, and that is in the melding of Silberman's slightly ethereal vocals with subtle arrangements of electronics - and on the likes of the melancholic 'Doppelgänger' and 'Surrender', plenty of trumpets in a mournful and beautiful way. 'Familiars' aches with such emotional intensity it's unlikely few will emerge at the end of it dry-eyed.
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