Hospice (studio album) by The Antlers

Purely raw emotion wrapped in a fantastic concept that'll easily bring a tear to your eye.

What an emotional rollercoaster of a record! This album takes you on a journey and it is so difficult to not get completely sucked into this amazing storyline that has been created for you. The concept is just phenomenal and such a poignant listen with their words being so intelligent and easy to connect with. It really is one of the best storylines I have personally experienced on a record and is an elite album with just the lyrics and themes. We then get a fantastic musical display to back this up with some moving performances that match the words perfectly. Songs like Wake and Two demonstrate this superbly as its so tough to not become introspective and sad while listening to these performances. This is consistent throughout the release and the group create an amazing atmosphere for us to dwell in as well. It is also diverse with its instrumentation and has beautiful playing from guitar, keyboards and percussion. Overall, what a touching experience it is to listen to this and the quality on display blows me away which makes this such a high calibre release.

Only got to listen to this first time this year 2022. I immediately liked it without knowing anything about it - nor really catching the lyrics so missed the sad story!! I hear touches of Bon Iver and Arcade Fire and occasional vocals like Jeff Buckley and sometimes it feels like a foreign language like Sigur Ros. This is a great album that I need to get to know better.

The concept of this record is amazing. There’s plenty of songs that deal with death…very few get this real.

The music here is also great. An emotional roller coaster that rises and falls like grief at the end of a loved one’s life.

There’s only one problem, but it’s a big one. The lyrics are quite clearly the key to this record but on 3 or 4 songs, you can barely hear Silberman, let alone make out what he’s singing. I had to turn the album off the first time I listened to it so I could put on a good pair of headphones. It only marginally helped.

Better production value and this record is in 95-100 territory.

Oh God, this is so heartbreaking. I like it.

From VictorVale 09/13/2021 17:27

Fantástico! Soa a angústia como poucos!

From micah88800 03/06/2021 07:25

Extremely beautiful but the lyrical content is too heartbreaking for me to listen to. One of the few albums that genuinely hurts me. In some ways this is one of my favorite albums, but as is, I have too hard of a time listening to it. I'll give it a 100 because from an artistic standpoint, this is why music exists.

A concept album about the relationship between a hospice worker and a terminal patient is very creative. It's not a very easy listen. Music plays between soft and loud with moments where it seems like not much is going on. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to connect with it, all this sadness passed me by.

From pjohnsongolf 01/11/2021 02:38

Depression

From BozoTyrannus 05/10/2020 16:54

One of the fondest memories of my life is sitting on my bedroom floor at 1 am in absolute darkness with the best headphones I could find listening to this for the first time.