ALBUM REVIEW: “Undersea” by The Antlers

The Antlers
Undersea – EP
[ANTI]

They keep busy over in Brooklyn. Barely a year after 2011’s Burst Apart, The Antlers are back with their latest EP, Undersea, a cloudy yet limpid collection of tunes.

The first dip into Undersea finds us lulled by the slow percussion, haunting horn, and airy harpy vibes of “Drift Drive” while Peter Silberman’s soprano moans out “Dissolving into a million piece in a billion places.” “Endless Ladder” is both phosphorescent and fuzzy all at once. Silberman’s hypnotic call of “Climbing higher, crawling out” becomes the beacon that keeps us from sinking too deep. “Float on your back, take me close to the truth, but much, much further” wails Silberman in the mesmerizing “Crest.” Closing out with jazzed out trumpets on the spacey hazed “Zelda.”

The slow as honey drip pace of each track on Undersea belies the nuanced complexities of the album and its constant push and pull between two opposite directions — submerged and afloat in equal parts. We are content to be led by The Antlers into this dreamlike state, where they’ve kept us cognizant enough to look forward to whatever comes next.