Imagine a postcard exposed to various iterations of rain and sun on its way to your mailbox. Its weathered edges stir up and muddle within you feelings of wanderlust and jealousy for the sender. The Antlers present “Palace,” the first single off their upcoming album, Familiars, as a note written on the back of this postcard. The steady horns that peek through the soft piano intro, combined with Peter Silberman’s falsetto, call to mind tidy and delicate cursive. The ink blooms on the page to champion the lightness that comes from feeling free in a new place. As the horns become louder and Silberman yelps out the words, the cursive loosens, anticipating its own undoing, to give way to rushed and senseless scribbles. It’s as if the sender of the postcard is finally admitting — to himself and to the reader — that he’s lonely, tired, and ready to go back home.
“Palace” is a poignant, rainy day anthem that will leave you with an unresolved yearning reverberating in your vaulted chest. A few more listens of the song, much like reading a message over and over, somehow settles the fluttering disquietude that it causes upon first listen. The Antlers have a knack for making music that can put their listeners in a deeply emotional headspace that’s hard to shake, but with “Palace” they seem to be giving their listeners a way out. Escape’s never sounded so bittersweet.