Remember the days when Peter Silberman was working as a solo artist, but under The Antlers banner and was making minimal, endearing, lo-fi compositions? Eight years have passed since The Antlers tender debut album Uprooted was released, so you’d be forgiven for forgetting how things once were. Since then The Antlers have indeed made the transition from solo to band adding Michael Lerner and Darby Cicci with many other additional guest and touring musicians, and have grown in stature and sound, developing a fully-fledged orchestral section to complement their music while buffering up the sparse instrumentation they had previously adopted. The bands’ most recent record, Familiars, was praised for its ‘collective ear for texture’ and for rewarding its listeners with ‘the attention their elegant, secretly weird music deserves.’ An album which is an immeasurably important piece in the ‘growing up’ the band have been doing since their debut release, and further proof that The Antlers are anything, but a one trick ponies.
‘’Refuge’’ one of the standout tracks on Familiars is the perfect reflection of where The Antlers are without losing touch with their origins. The track is encompassing, it is atmospheric, but underneath it all, it boasts the exquisite tenderness that graced The Antlers’ early music with such elegance. Silberman’s vocals are as sobering as ever without feeding into the ‘sad band’ category that he has spoken out about the band being labelled as. Delicate guitar and a seductive bass line underpin the whole thing, though it is the brass that lifts ‘’Refuge’’ into the sort of dreamy realm only The Antlers could conjure. The nuances, such as the occasional strains on Silberman’s vocals, are beautiful as per, but ‘’Refuge’’ is all about the enveloping experience. You indulge, and you will be rewarded. And when such a thing is this easy, any further analysis are ultimately futile.
http://antlersmusic.com/
