Dinosaur Jr. - Farm

Overall: 3.25 out of 5 stars

The Antlers - Hospice

Overall: 4.4 out of 5 stars

I really wanted to get away with just rating albums with stars and not having any written description. Mainly because I don’t really have the writing skills to differentiate in words how one album or track makes me feel compared to another.

Unfortunately for me, this album does require a description. This is an album that needs to be listened to in its entirety in one sitting. You also need to be really focusing on the music to get the most out of it. The ten tracks tell a story of a relationship with a terminally ill child. With tracks made up from hospital scenery, snippets of conversations with doctors, terrifying dreams, and prayers. They take you on a emotional trip through guilt, duty, mortality, and hope in the face of hopelessness.

As overly depressing as all this sounds, the album is surprisingly uplifting. Make no mistake, you will feel the emotional strain that singer Peter Silberman is going through, but by the end you will see that even in our darkest moments there is unfathomable beauty.