A Review of Act II: The Meaning of, and All Things Regarding Ms. Leading by The Dear Hunter

The Dear Hunter continues into their second album in their storied saga, the true meaning of which is heavily debated but here's an interpretation we like the most (source can be found here).

Act II: Ms. Terri (The Boy's mother) has passed away, after her burial, The Boy packs his belongings and makes his way out of the town he grew up in, going further from home than he had ever been.
The Boy makes his way through the forest, deciding that he wants to know more about his mother's past, something she had kept him sheltered from. He finds his way to a beaten up train station and boards a train called The Delphi Express heading towards The City.
During the ride on the Delphi, The Boy encounters The Oracles. They see The Boys future and warn him that The City will be the source of his unfortunate luck and advise him to return to The Lake and The River. The Boy ignores the warning as the train enters The City.
As The Delphi runs through The City, the audience is told more about The Church and The Dime although it's believed that The Boy is still naive about both. As mentioned in Act I, both places are run by the antagonist, The Priest who then becomes The Pimp by night.
The Boy steps off of The Delphi and immediately meets Ms. Leading, a beautiful woman that reminds The Boy of his mother for some reason (a reason that becomes clear as she leads The Boy to The Dime). After they have an enjoyable conversation, she leads The Boy and some would say that he then becomes The Man...but to avoid confusion, I'll still refer to him as The Boy.
The Boy wakes up the next morning alone and goes out to find Ms. Leading. Instead, he runs into The Pimp (who is now in Priest mode) who explains to The Boy that if he wants to continue to see Ms. Leading, he's going to need money to pay for her time. The Priest hires The Boy to be Ms. Leading's (and possibly other ladies) driver. The Priest leaves The Dime to go the The Church to perform mass as The Boy discovers his love for Ms. Leading.
Over time, Ms. Leading comes to terms with her own feelings toward The Boy. At the end of every week, The Boy offers his earnings to her to pay for her time but she asks him to keep his money. Ms. Leading describes her life as a prostitute and convinces herself that her feelings towards The Boy will eventually pass.
One day, Ms. Leading leaves her scarf in The Boy's car. In his eagerness to return the scarf, The Boy find Ms. Leading in bed with another customer (The Portly Man). The Boy begins to weep and as Portly Man kicks him out of the room, Ms. Leading weeps as well.
The Boy then drinks himself stupid and laments over Ms. Leading. In a moment when he pieces it all together finally, The Boy realizes that his mother was also a prostitute and he pens a faithful letter to Ms. Leading.
The two exchange letters over the situation, revealing that Ms. Leading does care for The Boy but he clearly does not get the answer he desires. In his final letter, he delivers it by attaching the letter to her door using a knife Ms. Terri had given The Boy.
Somehow those letters washed up on a nearby beach and found by a passerby who serves as a narrator for Black Sandy Beaches (there isn't any mention on how far into the future of the story this takes places). Through these letters, the narrator pieces together the entire story of Act II and ultimately decide that even though it hurt both of them, they're better off apart.
The Boy decides he has no reason to remain where he is, he boards a steam boat leaving The City (the destination is unknown). He retains the lessons and memories as he recites his mother's lullaby "Sing softly, sing me to the Lake. Sing softly, bring me to the Lake."
Unbeknownst to The Boy, his troubles have just begin (as the oracles earlier stated "Big steam ships exit illustrate the flaw").

Kue: The second installment of the narrative is even better than the first. Not only is the album far better structured and far more narratively linear, but many individual songs themselves seem like narratives on their own, akin to a chapter full of progressive plot details and action. The compositions are varied, which kept the songs from becoming too droning. Speaking of which, the lack of unnecessary ambiance was a huge step up from the last album. Standout tracks include “The Lake and the River” (my personal favorite), “The Bitter Suite 1 and 2: Meeting Ms. Leading/Through the Dime” (the former being exceptionally well-composed)”, and the acoustic driven “Black Sandy Beaches”.

Chris: This album shows an exponential growth in all accounts. It's an expansion of instrumentation and narrative that shows the maturation of both the band and The Boy (who is likely in his early 20s). One my favorite characteristics of this album is how the songs flow into each other or use transitional interludes and it's a great tool to show the chain of events and how it's interconnected. In the few moments where one song fades into silence before the next song starts, it feels more like the end of one paragraph and the beginning of another. My personal favorite transition is between "The Oracles on the Delphi Express" and "The Church and The Dime." The expansion of the narrative proves to complicate life for The Boy immensely as the sheer length of the plot description above proves. My favorite song on the album "Black Sandy Beaches," is one of the most interesting concepts in the entire Act series. I believe it's the only time the point of view shifts to someone outside of the story that simply lives in the same reality but at a distance. The song shows how much genuine words can move people even if they're completely removed from the situation and it serves as a way for an unbiased source to tell the listeners to not mourn the loss of this relationship because they're better off without each other. The biggest triumph of the narrative in this Act is the huge dent made into the naivety of The Boy because, as it was revealed at the end of the album, he's going to need to toughen up if he's to continue.