Review Summary: Sunlight through a prism: Green to Gold, Life to Death.
Losing Light is a refracted version of its parent LP,
Green to Gold. Each of its four tracks adopts a melody from its 2021 full-length counterpart and twists it, making the ephemeral fifteen minute experience a markedly familiar one - but also with a dimension of drama and mystique. Opener 'Losing Light' takes 'Solstice' and plunges it into a dense haze of swirling feedback, while 'Volunteered' eschews the acoustic guitars and elegant graces of 'Volunteer' for bolder drumming and an ominous, spine-tingling baritone vocal passage. 'G2G' - an obvious play on the title track - is a condensed and more chaotic take on that song, retaining its memorable melody but singing it in a ghostly/operatic manner that vaguely feels like something out of a Charles Dickens classic. 'G2G' also packs some of The Antlers' heaviest (although intentionally faded) drumming in years, which is complemented by a gorgeous blend of shimmering pianos/synths that hearken back to
In The Attic of the Universe's 'Shh'. 'Twas' is a reflection of 'It Is What It Is', chanting back that haunting chorus of "The fall should've been prevented / But it is what it was" almost like an encore doubling as an epilogue. It's a song that seems to cleverly toe the line between the current state of global affairs and utilizing autumn to symbolize the slow-demise of all things green and warm...or of life itself.
Losing Light comes to us as a surprise extended play, and while it isn't entirely essential, it presents
Green to Gold in a beautiful, if slightly unsettling, alternative light. There's almost a fever dream atmosphere present, as if the gorgeous rays of golden sunlight that we witnessed on the artwork for
Green to Gold have faded behind the trees, leaving us with a breathtaking purple/orange sunset, but also rapidly approaching darkness and uncertainty. It functions very well as a
Side B, acting as the sunset to
Green to Gold's sunrise, as cold to its all-encompassing warmth...doubt to its pristine clarity. It's seasons (Spring to Autumn), colors (green to gold), and life (youth to "golden years", or death) all traveling through a prism. Fans should dive right into
Losing Light knowing that they can always count on The Antlers to deliver an on-point theme.
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