Brooklyn, N.Y.-based trio The Antlers have never trodden in instant gratification. Their music takes time (and ideally a dimly lit room) to reveal its absolute
beauty. The band recast the moody, devastating indie rock of 2009’s Hospice with dark, creeping electronics on 2011’s Burst Apart. Familiars may be The
Antlers’ least accessible record yet, but don’t be too easily scared away. This time out, they’re the house band for the smallest, loneliest jazz bar in the world. Peter Silberman’s airy, often falsetto vocals waft through these slow, gently-swaying songs like smoke, while multi-instrumentalist Darby Cicci’s trumpet shoots into the dark. Silberman whips up microgrooves with his guitar on tracks like “Intruders” and “Hotel,” but on “Palace,” the music melts beneath far-off piano. Every one of these nine songs is around five minutes or longer. Ultimately, Familiars isn’t The Antlers’ best work. But no one plays in the shadows quite like them.