“Harbinger” by Anberlin, Monday, August 16, 2021

"Harbinger" was supposed to be the last song we ever heard from Anberlin. In 2013, the band agreed that they would release one last album and tour the world one last time. Stephen Christian talked openly about that dark hour in the band and the recording industry at the time, and because he was the only one speaking, many fans wondered if there was bad blood. However, in 2017, which was certainly not "forever" after their "final show" in December of 2014, the band announced a reunion supporting their good friends Underoath, who had also gotten back together. Since that reunion show, the band has toured off-and-on again, and most recently, performed all seven of their studio albums in livestreams. Yesterday, the band performed the album they never intended to play live, Lowborn. But right after the band's final movement in their requiem, they premiered a new song called "Two Graves," along with the announcement that a new record is in the works. If only all deaths worked this way.

I DON'T WANT TO GO NOW, BUT I'VE GOT TO FOR YOU TO REMEMBER ME IN THIS LIGHT. For long term fans who noticed a change in Anberlin's music toward the end of their career, thank their drummer, Nate Young. When the band began in 2002, Nate was a high school student. Seven years junior to the other bandmates, Nate's youthful energy helped to push the band to finish strong. He composed music on Vital and selected the artwork for the packaging on Dark Is the Way Light Is a Place and Vital. However, in the band's livestream for Lowborn the band members (sans. Stephen who was home sick with COVID) revealed that Nate was responsible for the moody pop sounds on Lowborn. However, while Young oversaw the band's production and vision for their final album, it was a blending of the band's instrumentals, Stephen's lyrics, and the oversight of three producers. The band returned to Atlanta for preproduction and drum production with Matt Goldman, who was known for his production on several Underoath albums and had also recorded Anberlin's earliest demos that helped them get their first record deal. Next, the band worked with Aaron Marsh of Copeland to record the instrumentals. Finally, Stephen Christian recorded vocals in Nashville with Aaron Sprinkle, the producer they had worked with for all but two of their records. The final product was what some fans and critics complained about being disjointed, and that is true in some places. The track listing, for one, could have been better arranged. However, it was the band throwing everything they had left into an Anberlin record, without much filter. 

WE'LL LIVE FOREVER. The band announced in January of 2014 that it was their final year as a band. They promised a world tour and a new album in July. They released "Stranger Ways" as the first single, and then "Dissenter" was leaked and circulated online. "Was that Stephen screaming? Is this really Anberlin?" everyone wondered. However, the bridge in which Stephen sings "For so long I've waited for this" the album's theme was clear: the ending of a labor of love. The song "Atonement" and "Harbinger" explained different reasons for the band's split up. "Atonement" talked about band members' individual obligations to their families and the strain of being a touring band. "Harbinger" talked about not wanting to be an aging band that fades out of popularity. Anberlin wanted to be seen in the best light possible. This message resonated with Allan back in 2014. Lowborn is a break up album, but goes much deeper than a human relationship. Six days a week, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., plus about a Sunday a month, he was devoted to the company. But the bags under his eyes were swelling. He was losing weight as his stomach was reacting to everything with any spice or dairy or complex. It became clearer and clearer that money was the root of the company and that he could continue in his personal piety or fake it. Either way, the company needed compliance to take in as many students as possible, to open as many classes as possible, to not complain to the labor board. To suck it up, and if you can't stand it just go home. But what was left for him at home?




 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry (reworked post), Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Image
When I was a Christian teenager, a book started circulating in my church youth group. Joshua Harris wrote about youth with wisdom and authority that seemed logical and categorical for every situation to the young women who read I Kissed Dating Goodbye . The book’s thesis argued that dating was a worldly alternative to the more purposeful Christian concept of courtship. Dating fueled erotic passions, which must be saved for a heterosexual marriage. Dating is casual, even preteens dates. Courtship was about vetting a marriage partner and would happen in the late teen years or early adulthood.  YOU THINK I'M PRETTY WITHOUT ANY MAKEUP ON .  Josh Harris’s I Kissed Dating Goodbye was part of a movement I’ve written about a lot: purity culture. How much this movement influenced young Katy Hudson, a pastor’s daughter in Southern California, touring with a slew of Christian rockers on the heels of her debut, self-titled album , I can only speculate what went through the 17-year-old star’s
Read more

“A Voice in the Violence” by Wolves at the Gate, Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Image
On April 8th, people from around the world crowded the path of a rare total solar eclipse that spanned from central Mexico to Newfoundland. The celestial event lasted at most 4 minutes and 28 seconds. In the eclipse's direct path, businesses charged excessive rates for tourists to stay, dine, and enjoy themselves before and after the short main event. Many recall the 2017 total eclipse when then-President Trump looked directly at the sun without protective glasses, leaving experts aghast. As the 2017 and 2024 total solar eclipses were less than seven years apart, why the hype and international travel? While the two solar eclipses happened only seven years apart, the last total eclipse before 2017 in the contiguous fifty states was on March 7, 1970, and the next total solar eclipse after 2024 is not until 2044, but only be visible in the north-midwestern states around sunset. I SEE THE NIGHT SLIPPING OVER. The cosmic phenomenon of the sun being blocked by the sun’s light being block
Read more

"My Secrets Have Secrets Too" by Search the City, Sunday, August 1, 2021

Image
Capitalizing on the pop-punk sound of the time Tooth & Nail signed Search the City , and they released their first album A Fire So Big the Heavens Can See It in 2008.   The band played at Tooth & Nail Day at Cornerstone that year and produced several radio singles from the radio-friendly album. Tongue-in-cheek lyrics in songs like " Son of a Gun " and " Ambulance Chaser " lyrically could connect this Detroit-based band with the likes of a clean-lyriced Blink-182 , Angels or Airwaves , or Relient K . Five years after Fire , the band reformed with a new drummer, bassist, and vocalist, 21-year-old Travis Bobier , who was much younger than the other band members. The 2012 album Flight  was very similar to Fire, with   Bobier's vocal performance on the album of high-register, energetic emo sound like original singer Josh Frost .  YOU HAVE A PLACE TO CALL YOUR OWN THAT NO ONE CAN EVERY TAKE FROM YOU. The opening track of Flight , " My Secrets Have Secr
Read more