Let’s have a Burst Apart-y

I am thankful that I didn’t have to wait long to hear The Antlers’ latest album Burst Apart. After only discovering the band’s previous album Hospice in February, I couldn’t contain myself. Like a lot of other people, I spent countless hours immersing myself in the story and shedding a few tears and ~FeELing~ things and shedding more tears. So when I found out that they were going to release a follow up to Hospice  in only a matter of months, I thanked the heavens above to say the very least. Here, I’m just going to share my thoughts about the album rather than review it because I’m the worst at describing music. So here we go.

While Burst Apart isn’t a ‘Hospice: Part 2′, like some were expecting,  in some ways it’s still a continuation of the story without the songs being bound by an over-arching theme. Things are different on Burst Apart and I like to think of the songs on this album as a collection of short stories (you can read what the songs are about here). If they had created another concept album then it would have more or less meant that every single one of their records would have to be concepts so I think the band made the correct decision by not doing so.

In interviews, lead singer and lyricist, Peter Silberman has indicated that he wanted to sing less on this record. Case in point, when the band played in Melbourne earlier this year and Silberman forgot the words to a song, he exclaimed with a smile on his face, “These songs have a lot of fucking words”. So there are less lyrics; however, they are still as thoughtful and carefully written as they are on Hospice.

What’s emphasised on this record is how things sound and if you’ve listened to some of The Antlers’ earlier stuff, one thing you will notice is how much Silberman’s voice has grown on songs such as I Don’t Want Love and Rolled Together where his soaring falsetto is something to behold. On a side note, what’s funny is that I remember reading how Silberman never intended to be a singer as he thought of himself as more of a guitarist, and it was only because The Antlers started off as a solo project that he was left with no option. There is the inclusion of an instrumental song in Tiptoe and on many of the songs there are long, drawn out instrumental parts. Sonically, the songs are a lot more complex and layered as can be heard on the song Parentheses with its drum loop and unusual yet pleasant sounding cacophony of sounds.

The pop and electronic sensibilities of the songs contribute to the light hearted and upbeat feeling of the album. However, the final song Putting The Dog To Sleep sees the band revisiting the success that their previous album thrives on and what the band does so well – pulling at your heart strings. With lyrics like ‘prove to me I’m not going to die alone, I don’t think so’ it’s hard to not feel some sort of affection for the band: it’s a song that makes me go ‘Y U DO THIS TO ME??’. Also like many of the band’s songs, it builds up to one of those scintillating endings whereby you hear an explosion of sounds that makes everything in the world seem… right.

To tie what I’ve written in with the image above, The Antlers are a band that have come to mean a lot to me, lame I know. I wanted to hear more from them after Hospice because I didn’t want to leave this world – a place in which there’s an unnerving beauty in sadness – that they had created and continue to create with Burst Apart, although this time around things are a little more joyous (at least in my mind anyway!).

I will leave you with some of my favourite interviews I have read where The Antlers speak about their latest album:

• Lifting the Black Cloud: An Interview with Peter Silberman of The Antlers
• Letting go for Burst Apart
• Interview: The Antlers

The dreamer

A while ago I had a chat with a very talented photographer by the name of Nicole Williams over some coffee at 1000 £ Bend. Since this article was written, some very exciting and wonderful things have been happening for Williams. For one, photos Williams took of Australian duo Angus and Julia Stone at The 360 Festival were posted by the band on their official Facebook page and in the second half of the year she’s heading to New York where she says she will be “a tiny little ant” trying to make it big. Anyway, have a read of the article I whipped up about Williams below. 

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She wants to ask people what they are thinking about without them replying, “I’m thinking of you asking me what I’m thinking”. She wants to record people’s conversations. She wants to start a magazine. She wants all the things she loves under one roof.

“I’m a dreamer,” says Nicole Williams and just like that you can’t help but notice the way her light brown eyes – rimmed with black eyeliner – look distant as though they really are looking somewhere into the future. “I’ve always thought about the things I could be doing and the things I want to do”.

However, what is reality for Williams at the moment is photography. Unsure of what to do after high school, photography was something that came naturally to her and combined two of her interests – fashion and photography. Browsing Williams’ weblog on micro-blogging website Tumblr where she posts all of her own work, there is a certain element in her photographs that is unexpected from an amateur photographer.

Organising her own shoots, Williams’ photographs easily capture the beauty of her young, mostly female subjects who happen to be friends or friends of friends. Williams seems to get it all right – the hair, make-up, styling and location.

Still unused to the attention her photographs are getting, Williams becomes hysterical when it is mentioned that one of her images, which features a good friend of hers by the name of Georgia, on Tumblr became quite popular. The image of Georgia from her waist up sees her wearing a vertically striped rainbow coloured button down shirt that is tied around her waist. With her blonde hair in an 80s fountain ponytail, she stands with both arms behind her head but with one arm up in the cloudless blue sky.

She references the work of Jolijn Sniders, Bella Howard, Jonathan Waiter and Tim Walker and when asked what people are most likely to love about her own work, she thinks it has something to do with her spontaneity.

Regularly posting her photographs on Facebook, has also led to various work opportunities such as photographing parties. Although there is one thing that has been concerning Williams lately, “I love doing it (photography) so I don’t really like charging but I have to… it’s just really difficult because I don’t know how to charge. I don’t want to overcharge or want to seem like I’m over charging because I’m really young”.

Still living and working at a fruit packing shed in the rural town of Shepparton, Williams is looking to move back to Melbourne in the coming months so that she can accept more work.

Always the dreamer, we find ourselves back to where we began as Williams builds upon one of her ambitions. Her idea is to create a space where all the things she loves are under one roof: a cafe, bookstore, record store, clothing store. Heck, she’d even live in the place. It’s all she’s been thinking about lately. “It’d obviously be pretty big. It’d be cool actually if it was over two levels – that’d be really cool,” says Williams as she looks around at her surroundings at 1000 £ Bend with a large grin, indicating that the space would be somewhat like a warehouse. Williams and a friend have even thought of a name for the place – Alistair Bones.

“That’s my ideal dream,” says Williams.

It is only the beginning for this young photographer but you get an idea of what Williams wants and will no doubt achieve in only a handful of words, “I want to do so much”.

You can find Williams’ work on Never Dressed. And follow her inspiration blog Devendra Black. 

Milk From A Thistle

Milk From A Thistle is a Sydney label designed by Danielle Atkinson which began in 2006. What is striking about the label’s Autumn/Winter 2011 collection is the harmonious combination of bold stripes and arty prints. In fact, the entire collection revolves around the use of navy/marine or blue/brown coloured stripes and ‘stallion’ or ‘crochet’ prints. The clothes are loose fitting with dresses and skirts almost taking on trapeze shapes. The difference is that while the hemlines of skirts fall below the knees those of dresses sit above the knees. Dresses and shirts are boat necked with sleeves either elbow-length and oversized or three-quarter length and tight. It is a direct collection that is simple but eye-catching and minimal but bold.

Lady Grey stallion dress

Sophia silk skirt stallion print

Hardy silk dress crochet print

Faraway silk dress crochet print

The backpack

Baggu bags have been designed to provide a stylish and eco-friendly alternative to paper and plastic bags. I recently bought a Baggu backpack and I’ve been able to put it to good use so far. It can fit many things that my other bags cannot like my laptop and drink bottle. The colour of the backpack and its simple design has also meant that it complements almost everything I wear.

The only thing that’s a bit annoying about the backpack is its lack of shape. If you happen to be in a rush and end up throwing every last thing you need in your backpack, it’s going to be an awkward shape and uncomfortable to wear (i.e. you’ll have things digging into your back). Also, the shoulder straps act as drawstrings to secure the opening of the backpack which means you have to ensure that you pull both straps evenly otherwise one shoulder strap will end up longer than the other.

Despite this I’d definitely recommend the Baggu backpack. The canvas material it’s made out of is quite durable and will definitely survive a little wear and tear. It also comes in a variety of colours.