Top 12 Albums of 2014: The Antlers — Familiars

Bringing the sounds of an orchestra into your standard rock or pop songs can be risky. When it goes wrong, those twinkling bells and swelling strings distract from the lyrics and start to make the whole thing sound like the overwrought soundtrack to a nighttime light show at Disneyland. (See: Neil Young, Storytone. Sorry.)

This is orchestral instrumentation done beautifully right. It’s a slight departure from the sound of the band’s previous albums — fuller than before and even jazzy — but it never feels inauthentic. The lead vocals stand front and center, whether soft and mournful or almost yelping, as looping bass patterns, horns, bells, synths, occasional background vocals, and other sounds fill in additional rich layers that each contribute to the emotion.

Throughout, the sound stays remarkably restrained. Nothing forceful or abrasive here, but there’s a sense of urgency. A “silent furor,” perhaps, as the second track, “Doppelganger” describes. (“Can you hear me when I’m trapped behind the mirror?/A doppelganger roaring from my silent kind of furor?”) The album demands to be listened to in a quiet, dark space, from start to finish and then on repeat, to soak it all in.

Note 1: This Top 12 list is not ranked. It’s generally a good idea to have 2014 coverage be published in 2014. Before Christmas, even. If I had to rank these, we wouldn’t be done until next August.

Note 2: More on the “Put Your Money Where Your Typing Is” selection methodology here. Short version: These are the 12 albums I bought on CD/vinyl/both this year.