The Antlers - Hospice

The Antlers are an indie rock band out of Brooklyn, and the above album Hospice is their ambitious third studio album, which also happens to be their first concept album. This album was the first thing that sprang to my mind for this assignment, because as a concept album all of the songs relate back to one central love story. It also happens to be incredibly depressing love story, so brace yourselves.

At its surface, Hospice is a story about a terminally sick hospice patient (Sylvia) and her lover (the narrator). The entire album is is from the first person point of view of the patient's lover. It's also been suggested that the surface story of the album is really a metaphor for a destructive or abusive relationship.  The disease represents the factors in their relationship that are tearing them apart. This theory is supported by some of the lyrics in the song "Two."

"Two" begins with hospice imagery of a dying patient, but the lyrics soon deviate to describe a deteriorating relationship. Lead singer Peter Silberman sings in a wavering falsetto, "But after a year, I stopped trying to stop you / From stomping out that door, coming back like you always do / Well no one's going to fix it for us, no one can / You say that 'No one's going to listen and no one ever understands.'"

My favorite song off the album, "Bear," is another song that's open to many interpretations. Silberman sings, "There's a bear inside your stomach / The cub's been kicking you for weeks / And if this isn't all a dream / Well then we'll cut him from beneath." The "bear" could be referring to the terminal illness (like a cancer), an accidental pregnancy and its tolls on an already dysfunctional relationship, or to stretch it further, the bear could represent the internal struggles Sylvia has with the relationship. Sylvia's illness could represent her pulling away from her relationship with the narrator. By the conclusion of the album they've ended the affair - or, on the other end of the spectrum, Sylvia has died. 

No matter the interpretation, Hospice focuses around one major theme: deteriorating love, whether the love itself is deteriorating or the loved one. Personally, I think this is one of the most emotionally affecting albums I've ever encountered, and it's definitely worth a listen. It's not whiny or trite like an album of the subject would have the potential to be, but it's poignant and powerful.