The Antlers share new song ‘Ahimsa’
Brooklyn indie rockers The Antlers have returned with a brand new song for the tail end of 2022. While the band usually works in the indie pop/dream pop world, their newest track, ‘Ahisma’, is as folky as an indie rock song can possibly be.
About as relaxed and country-fried as a song could possibly be, the sparse arrangement keeps all of the song’s delicate elements in place. Even the slightest increase in volume could bring down the entire operation, with pedal steel guitar, delicate piano, gently shuffling drums, and Peter Silberman’s light-as-air voice all floating throughout the track. It’s an achingly beautiful song, one with a timeless message at the heart of it.
“The original version had a patient tempo, spare instrumentation and hypnotic circular delays. It was intended as a meditation on the Buddhist notion of ‘non-harming’, which is perhaps a better translation of the title than ‘non-violence’,” Peter Silberman explains. “Stemming from my wish for a tranquil day amidst turbulent health issues, my focus then was on confronting my own ephemerality as inspiration toward greater compassion for those around me”.
“But in the years since its original release, I think the song has taken on a meaning closer to the immediacy of the chorus of ‘no violence’,” Silberman adds, “and become a kind of hymn in opposition to the rampant turmoil and seemingly inescapable vitriol of the moment.”
“‘Ahimsa’ is an attempt to create a peaceful space within a violent world,” Silberman concludes. “The scope is wider now, though the message remains the same: mortality is one of the few qualities we all share in common, and through recognizing this we may discover compassion for one another.”
Check out the audio for ‘Ahisma’ down below.
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