Brooklyn-based indie outfit The Antlers continued their triumphant return this week with new song It Is What It Is. It’s their second new release in just a few weeks too, following hot on the heels of Wheels Roll Home, the first new material the band had put out since 2014’s Familiars, their fifth studio album.

Now comprised of frontman, lead singer and songwriter Peter Silberman, and drummer Michael Lerner following the departure of supporting musician Darby Cicci (trumpet, upright/electric bass, keyboards, synths, vocals), The Antlers specialised in dreamy, occasionally lo-fi but always captivating folky indie pop. And it’s from that cloth that both Wheels Roll Home and latest single It Is What It Is have been cut.

With a gentle piano intro, mixed with some tender guitar and the glorious addition of horns, It Is What It Is is a beautiful and atmospheric offering, almost ghostly in its overall feeling, partly due to Silberman’s distinctive vocal delivery and the intriguing lyrics on show (“This is the first day our friend is free from pain / Voyaging on, while the rest of us remain”). The video, featuring world-famous dancers Or Schraiber and Bobbi Jene Smith is no less intense.

Writing on their official Facebook page about the release, the band said: “So very pleased to share another new song with you today. This one's called It Is What It Is, and it's out now via Anti Records and Transgressive.

"It Is What It Is is a song about hindsight. It considers what might have changed had you handled things differently back then, and the reluctant acceptance that it's too late for all that now. It the inevitability of changing seasons, transitions that feel like loss in the moment, but come to represent growth over time.

“Accompanying the song is another beautiful video directed by Derrick Belcham and Emily Terndrup, featuring Bobbi Jene Smith, Dea, and Or Schraiber.” Last year, The Antlers reissued Hospice – their breakthrough album and one that took two years to record – on vinyl and embarked on a sold-out acoustic your which saw them play the record in full at each show to celebrate its ten-year anniversary.

Watch the official video for It Is What It Is here.

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.