Hospice - the antlers
Yes, I chose another dreary album today. I wanted something light and easy after being out late at a concert so an album titled “Hospice” seems to fit that…
I would encourage a listen as the album is really well written and produced.
Track List:
Prologue
Kettering
Sylvia
Atrophy
Bear
Thirteen
Two
Shiva
Wake
Epilogue
Songs I have heard before this listening:
None, this is my first exposure to The Antlers
Songs I think could have been singles:
Bear - It doesn’t fit the rest of the album.
Two - The song has more of a traditional feel.
Other artists this reminds me of:
The Lumineers - The raw sounds and the concept album
Of Monsters and Men - Minimalistic and primitive sounding instrumentation.
Notes on the music:
The album has an underlying drone/bell synth patch that sets the tone for the album well.
I am not sure I would listen to parts of this album outside of the whole work. It’s a complete story.
Notes on individual Songs
Prologue
Starts soft then ruptures into sound, dissonance and clashing sounds reverberate. Soft drity keys over drones played in both directions lead us into the album. Sets a soft somber tone. The sound is not afraid, just sad and lingering.
Kettering
We get our narrator here. A ethereal high pitched voiced backed by a thombing piano chord that develops over the course of the song and various drones. The narrator laments the they were hired to care for the subject of the album as they were already in a state of deteriotion. They recall their cold welcome to the subject and the narrators difficulty in accepting that the subject is in fact terminal.
Instrumental section with drones and reverbarations still sews dischord and sad feelings. The narrator has spoken their part and now it's only actions and emotions left.
Sylvia
Again harsh tones that do not make nice sounding chords. The narrator is hard to understand at first. We soon learn the name of the subject of the album, Sylvia. The narrator is attemping to complete her duties as a nurse and Sylvia is resisting however the narrator is persistent.
Drums and horn come in for parts where the narrator is trying to get Sylvia under control which add layers and help show frustration beyond the bleak outlook for Sylvia.
The song ends with the narrator confessing that they are afraid to speak to Sylvia due to the reaction it gets.
At this point I believe the narrator is a healthcare worker, nurse and this is her first job as a end of life care worker. This song shows the struggles she has in communicating and dealing with a patient whom has had their expiry set. The nurse see the fear and anger that Sylvia has misdirected at the nurse due to her waning condition.
Atrophy
The song starts again with dissonance.
Our narrator has changed, now we get a monologue from Sylvia. She complains that the nurse has been giving orders and changing what is allowed. Sylvia has tried to comply with the new restrictions but struggles. There is an instrumental section and we get a duet showing that Sylvia and the nurse have a bit of an understanding now. Sylvia accepts the nurse is trying to help but still has trouble with complying and says very vitrolic things towards the nurse, the nurse expresses she just wants to help in any way she can.
An instrumental section where the sound develops from a near mechanical drone to a what sounds like a mass of windchimes resolving into an acoustic guitar.
At this point the nurse indicates that Sylvia is dying, thrashing and having a fit. to which Sylvia says that she is not comfortable and wants help, she is acting this way to get help.
Bear
The song starts with bells, sounds like a nursery rhyme almost.
I am honestly struggling to fit this in with the rest of the album thusfar. The soundscape is completely different, full and happy. The lyrics appear that it's a couple who are young adults and have found out that they have conceived a child. This is told from the male perspective. Upon arrival home from the abortion the female in the relationship is withdrawn and distance.
This could have been a memory of Sylvia's but it seems odd that it was told from the male perspective since we don't appear to have been introduced to them previously. It could also be the event that caused the nurse to go into nursing.
The song is upbeat and feels weird in comparisons to the rest of the album.
Thirteen
A cold cut from the previous song back to the clashing drones that are so ever present in the rest of the album.
This appears to Sylvia asking for help she feels overwhelmed and wants anyone that can or will to help her.
The song is very much like the others on the album in composition, very little lyrics.
Two
This song starts in contrast to the last with guitar. This is one of Sylvia's dreams, it recounts of life full of abuse and confessions of mental health struggles.
The composition is significantly different akin to Bear. I now suspect that this song and the two that preceeded it are either dreams of Sylvia's or flashbacks of her life as she dies. The drones return at the end of the song, but are less dissonant now, almost conforting.
Shiva
And now for something completely different. The soundscape is dreamy and verging upon hopeful. The lyrics seem to be Sylvia's account of death. She is partially reunited with a former lover who returns a wedding ring to her. This could be the male narrator from "Bear" As the song develops they do introduce the familiar dissonant drones in again.
Wake
The recording has an artifically old feel to it.
The narrator is the nurse. They are reeling from the death of Sylvia and the various struggles they have accepting the death of a patient, they knew they couldn't save but tried to anyways. They are also dealing with the abuse which Sylvia had directed towawrds them. It ends with a reaffirmation of their worth and an amazing build up of instruments that then fall to the familiar drone of the album.
Epilogue
The nurse is the narrator still. They inidicate that they are still traumatized from their time with Sylvia, they have left their job and their life has been greatly affected by their time with Sylvia. The song is starts as just acoustic guitar and vocals and resolves with a sequence played with the bells and drones used on the album.
