Words by Samantha Skapin

Do you like indie and/or ambient music? Do you get emotional over the song “Kettering” like I do? Boy, do I have a show for you!

Indie rock band The Antlers are playing their iconic album Hospice in full this Thursday at The Athenaeum Theatre in Columbus. Celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the album’s release, vocalist Peter Silberman and drummer Michael Lerner are setting out to play a handful of acoustic shows to re-visit the album and perhaps close some hospital room doors.

Originally self-released and then re-released through record label Frenchkiss, Hospice, The Antlers’ third full length album, was to me a standout in the world of 2009 where Bon Iver and Grizzly Bear were the heavy hitters. Hospice depicts the tale of a terminally-ill patient, a hospice worker, and relationships that simply aren’t meant to work no matter how much effort, fight, and forgiveness you put into them. With lyrics like “No there’s no open doors, and there’s no way to get through; there’s no other witnesses, just us two” and good, deep, haunting melodies (including Sharon Van Etten on a few tracks), what is there not to like? Between the lyrics and droning sound Silberman supplied, the record stands its ground ten years later and sounds like it could have been found on your Spotify “Release Radar” playlist last Friday.

I’m intrigued to hear the songs on Hospice revisited, to hear what Silberman has to say about the connection and relationship he had and maybe still holds with these songs, and to witness how they resonate with the audience a decade later.

If you are in the Columbus area on Thursday, be sure to check out the show and celebrate ten years of The Antler’s Hospice at The Athenaeum Theatre, and be sure to check out the photo gallery and review of the show!