As we told you, Antlers have signed with Frenchkiss Records and will be re-releasing their critically acclaimed LP Hospice. Now they’ve released the first remastered single, so we thought we’d give you both to listen to.

When we spoke to Antlers brainchild Peter Silberman, we gave you the pre-remastered version of the single “Two” to check out. Now that it’s been re-released, here it is again for a side by side comparison. So listen to them both diligently, dissect and deconstruct them, and then go see the Antlers on tour, because they’re a good band.

Antlers – “Two” (original)

Antlers – “Two” (remastered)

A month after self-releasing his fantastic Hospice LP, we spoke to Peter Silberman, the brainchild of The Antlers, from his bedroom in Brooklyn. Now he gets to do it all over again (not the interview, releasing Hospice), only this time with a label to help him out.

Silberman was soft-spoken and modest regarding his band’s influx of media attention from the likes of NPR, The Wall Street Journal and Pitchfork. The Tripwire’s Michael Cranston was not: “But the album is, like, so fucking great.” Turns out the people at Frenchkiss agree with Michael, and have decided to give the album a once-over and new release date of August 18. Here’s hoping the remastering doesn’t affect the albums greatness, but at least while we’re waiting to hear Hospice in its new duds, we can see them live on tour with Au Revoir Simone and Cotton Jones.

Antlers tour dates
05.21.09 – New York, NY (Bowery Ballroom)#
05.29.09 – Brooklyn, NY (Music Hall Of Williamsburg)*
05.30.09 – Washington D.C. (Rock N Roll Hotel)*
05.31.09 – Cincinatti, OH (Southgate House)*
06.01.09 – Nashville, TN (The End)*
06.02.09 – Memphis, TN (Hi Tone)*
06.03.09 – New Orleans, LA (Allways Lounge)
06.01.09 – Dallas, TX (The Cavern)*
06.01.09 – Austin, TX (Mohawk)*
06.09.09 – Tuscon, AZ (Plush)*
06.11.09 – Los Angeles, CA (El Rey)*
06.12.09 – Santa Barbara, CA (Velvet Jones)*
06.12.09 – San Francisco, CA (Bimbos)*
06.12.09 – Atlanta, GA (Drunken Unicorn)$
06.16.09 – Chapel Hill, NC (Local 506)$
06.12.09 – Charlottesville, VA (Outback Lodge)$
06.12.09 – Arlington, VA (Iota)$
06.12.09 – Philadelphia, PA (M Room)$
06.21.09 – Boston, MA (Middle East)$

# w/ White Rabbits & Cymbals Eat Guitars
* w/ Au Revoir Simone
$ w/ Cotton Jones

A month after releasing his fantastic Hospice LP, we spoke to Peter Silberman, the brainchild of The Antlers, from his bedroom in Brooklyn. I’m inexplicably nervous and consequently overuse the words “like” and “fuck.” Silberman is soft-spoken and modest (but grateful) regarding his band’s influx of media attention from the likes of NPR, The Wall Street Journal and Pitchfork. “But the album is, like, so fucking great,” I tell him, and I’m not lying.

Hospice played on repeat as I followed the storyline like a lit student writing a dissertation. Hospice, a story about a helpless and emotionally devastated boyfriend as he watches his girlfriend die in a hospice, unfolds with incredible precision, accomplishing a deep poignancy. Speaking with Silberman, my questions constantly lingered in the area between critic and fan: the former trying to exercise restraint and formulate intelligent questions, and the latter, just wanting to tell him my own interpretations of Hospice. “I don’t want to decide for anyone what it’s about,” he says, and that’s probably for the best.

Antlers – “Two”

When did the concept for Hospice begin?
The first idea for a song came in May of 2007, right after self-releasing the record In the Attic of the Universe. Right after that, I started getting ideas for these songs and they were all sounding the same – the same subject matter, and the same melodies, they were all coming from the exact same place, and turning into variations of one another.

The first song I wrote was the last song [on Hospice] “Epilogue”.

That’s interesting that “Epilogue” was written before the others.
I wrote it in my head, which I’ve never done before. Usually, I have to have a guitar, in my bedroom and sing it to myself and play along with it … I was actually on a train when I started thinking about the lyrics and then the melody was in my head too, but I’m surprised I remembered it because I have very bad short-term memory, and have forgotten so many songs that are lost forever. This one I managed to remember and (turn) into something once I got to wherever it was that I was going.

When did the actual story line of Hospice emerge?
Well, it’s hard for me to figure out how that happened. The album is based on something that happened right before I began writing it. But the way it came together as a story and what the story turned into, it took a lot of organizing and a lot of working with it and trying to make sure the plot was coherent, that certain details were included, and making sure the way the story was playing out in my head translated to what it became in the record.

Why did it take so long?
I don’t usually demo songs … I would be recording parts of songs, then cutting them out and re-recording other parts of the song on top of it. So there’s some instruments being played that were recorded a year and a half apart from one another. There might be a bit of accordion on one song as one of the first things recorded on the song, and there are things put on a year and half later as a result of piling things on top of each other and weeding some out and re-recording others.

Did you record mostly in a studio?
I’d love to call it a studio, but it’s basically a computer – Pro Tools with an M-Box and two microphones, not necessarily the microphones I should have been using from a recording standpoint, not really any of the hardware I should have been using if I was legitimately trying to record an album. (Laughs.) On the next one, we’ll try to upgrade a little bit.

When reading the plot line, it’s difficult to know at times who is speaking. Is this deliberate?
I realized while I was writing it that it might not be clear who was being addressed. Pretty much, at all points throughout the story, it’s the narrator speaking, with the exception of “Thirteen” where Sylvia is speaking.

When I reviewed the album, I referred to two characters – The Narrator and the Patient.
Well, there is one other one that is the least introduced or obvious, it’s the most confusing point.

Are you willing to reveal that character?
Well, that character doesn’t have a name but in “Wake” it’s not Sylvia who’s being spoken to, it’s a friend being spoken to after the Narrator emerges from a situation.

Can you elaborate more on “Wake”?
The first half of that song is the narrator speaking to his friend, kind of atoning, apologizing. The second half, the “don’t be scared to speak” part, is the narrator talking to himself and talking to anyone.

Antlers – “Wake”

Is there one song that best captures the album’s mood?
It’s a tough call because I have a different relationship with the songs now than when I was writing them. They’re all songs that are really close to me – as far as the song that’s closest to my life now, probably it’s “Wake.” It’s kind of the liberation.

“Wake” feels like the end of the story too; I was surprised it didn’t end the album.
Well it came close, but I always knew “Epilogue” would (end it). I listened to “Wake” and thought it felt like the end of the album, but not the end of the story – the things I’m talking about in “Epilogue” are really the ellipsis at the end. I felt like that needed to be the end because it’s what happens after the story is over.

You mentioned your changing relationship with these songs, how has your relationship changed considering the attention to the album?
It’s the strangest experience of my life because I thought about the possibility of that happening but it wasn’t something I could recognize. I decided at the beginning of the recording [that] I wasn’t going to go into detail as to what the album is about.

Do you think you’ll ever delve into that detail?
I’ve been thinking of it a lot lately, and trying to decide whether I’ll ever go into detail about the album is about, and what way it’s based on my life. I mean, it’s obnoxious of myself to be referring to things so vaguely.

Basically, what I would say the album is about, I would say this for the sake of anyone who would listen to it, it’s about an experience I had in a very emotionally abusive relationship and the pulling myself out of that, and the effect that it had on my life at the time.

So why analogize that through a hospice?
A hospice can be representative of what emotional and psychological abuse can do. Let’s say as a hospice worker, you’re taking a lot of verbal abuse from someone who is dying, cause they’re, absolutely and rightfully so, bitter about what’s happening and feeling like it’s completely unfair, which it most obviously is. And you’re in the position of feeling like you have no right to complain about your situation because it’s so much worse for them. So you think the least I can do is give them a punching bag.

What’s the attention been like in the past month? Is it validating?
It’s surreal. It’s been a strong response, and extremely encouraging. It’s more than I could have ever hoped for, it does feel validating, it’s overwhelming, for sure, and it feels like things are moving in a new direction. It’s a dream come true, I’ve never been happier than I am right now.

Were there other concept albums that influenced the direction of Hospice?
A huge influence on me was In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. It was a life-changing record, as I’m sure a lot of people say it is. It’s responsible for a lot of decision in my life.

I can agree with you on that one.
There is so much happening lyrically, the story is so chilling.

Anything else you want to mention?
… As far as concept albums, The Soft Bulletin was a big one. Make sure you include something about The Soft Bulletin. (Laughs)

Full Disclaimer: Hospice is both a thorough and ambiguous narrative, written by The Antlers‘ frontman, Peter Silberman. A well-formed opinion of Hospice is predicated on a detailed understanding of this narrative, but due to the aforementioned ambiguity, understanding is predicated on personal interpretation. Thus, all impressions formed and presumptions taken are based on my reading (and probably my own experiences, which I subconsciously project). If your copy of Hospice is digital, I encourage you to print or read the liner notes to form your own impression.

Hospice refers to palliative care given to terminally ill patients. Essentially, it works to ready a patient for death. Hospice, the album, is a fictional narrative set in hospice care with two central characters: The Narrator (referred to as “I”) and The Patient (who seems to be his girlfriend). The story begins with the Narrator learning the Patient will die. The album’s time frame is a likely a few weeks or months until her inevitable death. The Narrator blames himself for her sickness, but most of all, for failing to comfort or alleviate her emotional pain. She is intensely resentful, yet he returns to her masochistically. “I wish that I had known in that first minute we met, the unpayable debt that I owed you,” Silberman sings on “Kettering”, a track whose intimacy is so vivid that we live vicariously through the pain. “I didn’t believe them when they told me there was no saving you.” Hospice is an album reminiscent of Spiritualized’s “Songs in A&E”, with the references to death and the terminally ill, while hinting at qualities of Antony’s melodrama. There are times when his voices remarks on Win Butler’s token urgent and often teary yelps. (Though these comparisons are merely points-of-reference.)

Hospice is not easy-listening but is incredibly rewarding — a “grower” in every sense. My first impressions were not necessarily positive; the intensity was too heavy-handed and music too maudlin. However, after granting the album some patience, listening to it entirely through, and following the storyline, the musical nuances and literary developments were startlingly compelling. The way Silberman articulates and establishes the main characters and their relationship shows his craftsmanship. The Narrator is constantly contrite, though never having done wrong, to the Patient who refuses his advances. “In your dreams, I’m a criminal, horrible, sleeping around. While you’re awake, I’m impossible, constantly letting you down,” he sings chillingly on “Atrophy”. The blog-hit “Bear” culminates the album’s first half with Silberman admitting, “you’ll keep me in the waiting room, and all the while I’ll know we’re fucked, and not getting un-fucked soon.” There is a heart-wrenching futility in his voice. The story’s turning point comes during the lovely “Two, Or, I Would Have Saved Her If I Could” as he says, “[The Doctor] brought me out into the hall, and told me something that I didn’t know that I wanted to hear: That there was nothing I could do to save you, the choir’s gonna sing, and this thing is gonna kill you.” Admission is always the first step. From here, the album’s final songs soar. “Wake”, detailing the Patient’s funeral service, harbor’s the album’s most accomplished moment in the final stanza. Whether it’s the Narrator speaking, or being spoken to, the sentiment is The Narrator’s emotional liberation: “Don’t be scared to speak … don’t take that sharp abuse/ Some patients can’t be saved/ But that burden’s not on you.”

Hospice has been on repeat for me in the past week, and secured its place as one of the best albums of the year. It’s a romantic relationship gone wrong. It’s an implacable parent. It’s the sick patient who tears apart the family. Hospice is any or none of these things. Silberman is reticent to unveil the personal experience that inspired Hospice. However, he needs to add little context to the album because it is carried out with such literary proficiency. I truly hope listeners and critics don’t dismiss the album as merely an album about death; sure, its morose subject matter may be intense at times, but Silberman’s story is too intriguing for impatience. Besides, if you listen close enough, it’s as much about personal recovery and self-affirmation as it is dying.