“Breaking” by Anberlin, Saturday, September 16, 2023 (updated repost)

Anberlin's second single from New Surrender,  originally titled "Bitter Sweet Memory" treads familiar territory for the band: the emo break-up song. Their major label debut refined, perhaps over-produced, the sound that they had been curating since their sophomore record Never Take Friendship Personal. "Breaking" was overshadowed by the sleeper success of "Feel Good Drag," which at the time, was the longest a single had ever taken to top the Alternative Radio charts. Aside from hearing it on Christian radio and a McDonald's, I never heard "Breaking" on Alternative radio. The music video for the song was also canceled, and the label went on to promote the non-album track, a cover of New Order's "True Faith" as the band's follow up. "True Faith," also didn't do well on the radio, but the band would score another top 5 hit with "Impossible."

YOU MAKE BREAKING HEARTS LOOK SO EASY. In 2010 I decided not to go to Cornerstone simply because Anberlin wasn't playing. They were, however, set to perform at Ichthus, a Christian festival in Kentucky. A couple of friends who liked Anberlin and some of the other bands decided to go to that festival instead. We found that Ichthus was a far more sanitized version of Cornerstone. While many of the bands played both festivals, the main stages at both events were quite different. Ichthus's main stage was all about the who's who of CCM, whereas Cornerstone was about the more alternative and edgier groups. The atmosphere seemed to be more church camps and less about music enthusiasts. At both festivals, you might find drugs, but for completely different reasons. At Cornerstone, while against the rules of the festival, you might have the Christian hippie crowd who were "liberated." At Ichthus, you might have rebellious campers. At Ichthus, there were side stages with the heavier bands, but the shows were less intimate than the tents at Cornerstone. Maybe one of the worst parts of the festival was the evening Christian film festival, with terrible comedies that people just laughed to be polite. On Saturday night, we had endured the sweaty, dusty festival only to find out that Anberlin had canceled the show. They said their bus had broken down. To me, it was like karma for when Anberlin had replaced Relient K as headliner at Cornerstone. But one person said of this situation, "You make breaking hearts look so easy."

A MACHINE WHERE YOUR HEART ONCE WAS, SLOWLY TAKES THE PLACE OF YOU. It's easy to be a critic. I believe that New Surrender could have had a better track listing. Maybe some of the songs could have kept some of the obscure titles. Maybe it should have been cut for length. There are many other things I could say about this record, but the fact is, I couldn't have made it. Sometimes there are albums I don't enjoy, but the same is true: who am I to judge? Some days work feels like an egomaniacal Collin Mochrie playing the role of director in a ridiculous Whose Line Is It Anyway? sketch. No matter how you do it, it's never right. But as discouraging as those days at work are, fortunately the micromanagers get tired. I also have to remember why I got into education in the first place. I wanted to do my best to be encouraging to my students, giving them positive feedback to make the criticism easier to swallow. I have to think about that when I take my red pen to an both essays which shows me an area that I need to explain and to the student who didn't listen to the instructions. Breaking is easy. We can always see something that doesn't make the mark. But I want to be a builder. But I must say: I'm finding less and less time for the demolition crew.

 

 

Read “Breaking” by Anberlin on Genius