''Hospice'' is the third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band The Antlers, and their first

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

. It was initially self-distributed by the band in March 2009, and was eventually remastered and re-released once they signed to

Frenchkiss Records Frenchkiss Records is an independent record label based in New York City. The label was started in 1999 by Syd Butler, bassist and founder of Les Savy Fav. The label's first purpose was to release Les Savy Fav's second album '' The Cat and The Co ...

in August of the same year.

Concept

''Hospice'' tells the story of a relationship between a

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life by ...

worker and a female patient suffering from terminal bone cancer, their ensuing romance, and their slow downward spiral as a result of the woman's traumas, fears, and disease. The story of her deterioration also serves as a metaphor for an abusive relationship. Frontman Peter Silberman has been reluctant to divulge explicit details regarding the meaning of the record, and the extent to which it is autobiographical.

Release

The first single was "Bear", released in April 2009 to promote the self-released version of ''Hospice''. "Two" was the first single released commercially, as a digital download in June 2009. The song's music video features a combination of photography and

cutout animation Cutout animation is a form of stop-motion animation using flat characters, props and backgrounds cut from materials such as paper, card, stiff fabric or photographs. The props would be cut out and used as puppets for stop motion. The world's ea ...

, and was directed by Ethan Segal and Albert Thrower. In the United Kingdom, "Bear" was released on 7-inch vinyl on November 16, 2009, featuring an exclusive remix of "Bear" by Darby Cicci on the B-side. Additionally, an exclusive live recording of "Sylvia" at The Orchard in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

was released as a download on November 17, 2009. "Sylvia" was issued as the third proper single on March 22, 2010. A music video was produced for the song, directed by Trey Hock, and premiered on the IFC's website on April 15, 2010.

Reissue and 10th anniversary tour

On March 8, 2019, The Antlers reissued ''Hospice'' via Frenchkiss/Transgressive. The reissue was pressed on double white vinyl and featured updated artwork and packaging from artist Zan Goodman. The same year, The Antlers embarked on a 10th anniversary tour, playing the album in its entirety. However, Silberman's health concerns led them to perform acoustic versions of the songs during intimate shows in smaller venues. It was the band's first live performances since 2015. The tour officially marked the departure of multi-instrumentalist Darby Cicci.

Reception

The album was released to critical acclaim. ''

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'' endorsed the re-release of ''Hospice'' with their "Best New Music" stamp.

NPR Music NPR Music is a project of National Public Radio, an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization, that launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music ...

placed the album at number one on their list of the top ten albums of early 2009. At the end of the year, ''Pitchfork'' placed it number 37 on their list of the best albums of 2009, praising its "power to emotionally destroy listeners." ''

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'' named it the best album of 2009, while

Rhapsody Rhapsody may refer to: * A work of epic poetry, or part of one, that is suitable for recitation at one time ** Rhapsode, a classical Greek professional performer of epic poetry Computer software * Rhapsody (online music service), an online m ...

deemed it the 24th best album of 2009. It sold 13,000 copies in the United States by October 9, according to

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

Track listing

All songs written by

Peter Silberman Peter Silberman (born March 31, 1986) is a Brooklyn-based songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock band The Antlers. In 2017 he released a solo album, ''Impermanence''. Musical career Silberman grew up i ...

. In the liner notes, all songs are given alternate titles.

Release history

Credits

Personnel

– vocals, guitar, accordion, harmonica, harp, keyboards * Darby Cicci – trumpet, bowed banjo * Michael Lerner – drums, percussion * Justin Stivers – bass *

Sharon Van Etten Sharon Katharine Van Etten (born February 26, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter. She has released six studio albums, the latest of which is '' We've Been Going About This All Wrong'' (2022). Early life Van Etten was born in Belleville, N ...

– vocals on "Kettering," "Thirteen," "Two," and "Shiva"

Production

* Recorded at Watcher's Woods, Brooklyn * Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound * Original release mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk * Artwork by Zan Goodman * Design by Darby Cicci

References

{{Authority control 2009 albums The Antlers (band) albums Frenchkiss Records albums Concept albums Works about cancer