The Antlers Shed Trauma of Past on New CD, ‘Burst Apart’ Everyday Music

Jun

The Antlers Shed Trauma of Past on New CD, ‘Burst Apart’

Angelina Brewis Entertainment Ideas 2011-06-14

Peter Silberman might have spent a little too long immersed in the songs on “Hospice,” the 2009 album by his band the Antlers.

Although the singer and guitarist has been vague about the specifics, “Hospice” was an autobiographical, if allegorical, account of an abusive relationship. Performing those songs in concert for nearly two years proved more difficult than he realized at the time.

“I really enjoy playing shows, and I did really like playing those songs at shows, but I think I was in denial about the fact that it was taking its toll on me mentally,” Silberman says by phone, shortly before the release today of the Antlers’ latest, “Burst Apart” (Frenchkiss), and a short tour that ends June 17 in Hamden.

It was during the making of “Burst Apart” (streaming via NPR) that Silberman found he had shed the outlook he had unconsciously adopted for “Hospice.”

“Part of it had to do with letting myself enjoy the fact that we were getting to travel to all these crazy places and not have to be dark or think in a gloomy way,” he says. “In a way I felt guilty about it, like with ‘Hospice’ stuff I had to match the nature of the record wth my day-to-day thoughts and mindset. But I’m actually pretty happy, and I enjoy what we’re doing.”

“Burst Apart,” the band’s fourth album, is also the first one on to feature a collaborative creative process, as Silberman worked on the songs with bandmates Michael Lerner and Darby Cicci. The new record picks up in the aftermath of “Hospice,” at the moment when it’s time to let go of past trauma and move on.

“I had been singing these songs about that period of my life for a long time, but who am I now?” Silberman, 25, says. “It’s about figuring out who you are in the shadow of something pretty serious and where you go from there.”

In one sense, the next step represented an opportunity to push the boundaries of the band’s music and experiment with the Antlers’ sound, the result of which is 10 tracks of mesmerizing musical texture and deep, subtle melodic hooks.

“Musically I think we wanted to explore a lot of new territory,” Silberman says. “We wanted to enjoy recording it, we wanted to discover new ideas and really muscially do it for the joy of making music. It sounds corny, but it’s the thing the three of us can agree upon strongly.”

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Rediscovering the pure joy of making music was also a sign to Silberman that he had become a different person than the one who wrote the songs on “Hospice.” Though he’s grateful for the significant role the record has played in establishing a career for the Antlers, he’s also happy to have a new batch of less fraught songs to play.

“It’s like a major turning point in your life, and what happens after that,” he says. “To be that same person would mean I hadn’t grown at all.”

The Antlers perform with Little Scream June 17 at The Space, 295 Treadwell St., Hamden. Tickets are $13 in advance via manicproductions.org.

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