Anteros' Debut Album When We Land is the Map Through the Navigation of Adolescence
Photo by Phoebe Fox
By: Gregory Gagliardi
I was driving through Connecticut's valley on a sunny late afternoon, just before rush hour traffic. The weather was relatively warm, high 40s-low 50s. Connecticut is a strange state. I have spent my 23 years trying to figure it out and still, have not. Our claims to fame are our world-famous pizza and being home to arguably the most prestigious university, Yale.
However, Connecticut did not raise me. Music did. Growing up in a cold, eerie, overwhelmingly warm and yes at times downright beautiful situation will affect you. I know Connecticut is not the only state like this and depending on your environment you too may find similarities. The point of this is that when your world is confusing, ever-changing, and filled with mixed emotions you want security. You want something to call your own. It is why when I experience a great album it hits even harder.
When We Land is that album, it is the map to your navigation of adolescence. It is the security blanket you clutch when you graduate college and enter the real world. “Drive On,” my favorite song is up-tempo and emotional, "I need to find a car and out drive my demons" song. I paused the song when I heard "it feels like heaven, but it looks hell." If that ain't the gosh darn truth, then I do not know what is.
The section from "Drive On" too "Wrong Side" is when I said, "okay this is going to be in the rotation for a long time. "Drive On” is followed by “Breakfast.” “Breakfast” is about an experience lead singer Laura Hayden had last summer. She said, “I was seeing someone who only wanted to stay up and talk about their problems until the early hours. We’ve all been bored by someone who is too self-indulgent.”
"Breakfast” is ironic because the song is not boring, but rather self-empowering, engaging, and edgy. It sounds like, "I know my self-worth. I will not be a pawn in your life. I'm over this."
“Ordinary Girl” is another standout. The production on this track is gorgeous. Violins over a crashing drum pattern give this song an epic feeling. My final standout is the groovy “Wrong Side.” It’s fairly simple, “you say the right things at the wrong times.” Nothing complicated, but again, relatable. Sometimes the most straightforward sentences strike the deepest.
The album has minimal filler songs. The only songs I could have done without were the first two. They were not bad, but when what follows converts the listener from a listener to a fan, your expectations are raised.
When We Land ends with the self-titled track, "Anteros." I got chills when Hayden said, "we're together lost, we're forever lost." As she sang her depressing lyrics in an uplifting tone, the guitar and drums began to pick up, and for the first time in a long time, it felt okay to be lost. Anteros's debut album is a musical narration about making the best out of a bad situation.