Burst Apart

was my album of the month for June this year. I never really got into The Antlers' last album, the highly praised Hospice, despite trying for a good number of times. That album simply doesn't click with me in any way and I like to think it's almost right up my alley. What we have here is a fair bit different.

The melancholic nature of Hospice is still very much present on this release, but I feel like it is complimented by a sense of high emotional warmth. That's why it didn't seem quite as strange to listen to an album like this, at best, three times a day in the warm and bright summertime. That being said, it's not really an album that immediately hits you on the head with its greatness. Many of the tracks rely on getting in to the ambience and atmosphere and not quite as heavily on distinct hooks.

The melodic content of the album is still very infectious. In that respect I'd say the highlights of the album are in the second half. 'Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out' is the only really energetic number here and boasts a delicate melody and a structural similarity to the Radiohead song 'Jigsaw Falling in to Place' from In Rainbows. The short instrumental interlude 'Tiptoe' is a perfect lead-in to the last three songs which make up a real winning streak to end the album.

'Hounds' has special significance to me that is
mostly related to its lyrics. The way Peter Silberman describes a situation I and probably quite a few others are familiar with is quite heartbreaking. I can assure you that it's not a song to listen to in an emotionally fragile state. Musically, the trumpet section repeating the melody of the song is pure brilliance. It's still a bit of a hard song to crack and sometimes, even for me, just slips past my consciousness. 'Corsicana' was a lot tougher to crack than would be logical to. After all it's a quite simple piano centered song. To get in to the atmosphere of the song is a bit harder though. "We should hold our breath with mouths together now" is one of the best, if not the best line on the whole album.

'Putting the Dog to Sleep' works perfectly as a comforting closer after the various love and relationship related themes present in the album's lyrics. It's a lightweight and hopeful song that's just perfect for singing along to. It's almost a spiritual experience which I can attribute to the impressive guitar sound by Silberman.

That leads us to the instrumentation of the album which is top notch. In addition to your regular band instruments, there's also the aforementioned trumpets and piano and in addition to those, organs, mandolins and synths. The synths are used masterfully as an ambience adding tool. The varied instrumentation is best present on my other favourite track besides 'Hounds', which is 'French Exit'. It's a perfect song from start to finish, even if it feels a bit stagnant at times. When that guitar part near the end comes in, I just melt. One of my favourite music moments this year. "If I don't take you somewhere else, You're gonna make this insincere" is also possibly the best lyrical hook on the whole album.

A great part of my fascination with this album also comes from Silberman's voice. I just love a good male falsetto. Silberman really delivers in that respect. Basically his voice is another instrument to the sound palette. The last refrain on 'Hounds' first fooled me to thinking that it was a female singer featuring on the track. His style of singing doesn't vary much through the course of the album but it never becomes grating or starts to feel pointless.

Burst Apart is hardly a groundbreaking or innovative album but sometimes that's not really necessary. It's very much an album tailored for a person like me and also does have universal appeal. It's not perfect, sometimes I feel quite indifferent towards it. When it hits, it hits har