NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

On January 16, 2014, Anberlin posted a video on their social media platforms with a special message . The three-minute eighteen-second black and white video opened with a quote by Helen Keller; a droning guitar riff; and footage of a sideways camera playing a loop of a city from a car, an Anberlin concert, and footage from their “ Paperthin Hymn ” music video --all with a new emblem watermarking the footage. That new watermark was of fingers crossing. As the footage played, each member of Anberlin talked about their experiences in the band. A drumbeat joined the guitar and later a synthline. Then at 1:49 seconds into the video, the band gets to the point of the video: Anberlin is breaking up after releasing a new album and giving a final world tour. The video ends by reiterating the upcoming final album and final tour and with a Tooth & Nail Records copyright notice, inadvertently announcing that Anberlin had returned to their first record label to release their final album.  LO

It was the beginning of a rough year. In January, my favorite band from when I was in high school announced they were breaking up by the end of the year. I was in the middle of a hellish teaching contract in South Korea, and it looked like I could never see Anberlin perform again live. Before disbanding, the band would release their seventh studio album, Lowborn . Of course, the break up didn’t last and Anberlin got back together only four years later to play a reunion show and began touring the year after that. Then in 2022, the band released Silverline , a 5-song EP; another EP, Convinced , last year; and will release their eighth studio record, Vega , on August 2nd, which will be a combination of Silverline and Convinced with two new songs featuring the band's new touring vocalist, Matty Mullins . I FOUND PEACE IN A FOREIGN ATONEMENT.  At the end of 2013, lead singer Stephen Christian told his bandmates that he would give Anberlin a year to say farewell. Christian talks about

Sticking with my theme this year of breaking Anberlin ’s discography into seasonal listening, I should have started last month with “ Breaking ,” the song that, for me, announced that fall is here. Yes, I first heard the song at Cornerstone when the band performed it, and I got a demo version of it on the New Surrender USB bracelet preorder, but when the album was released in September I had left for college, and I associated the new energy of the fall with that album.  The band played a recorded version of “ Two Graves ” during their August 2021 livestream Under a Dying Sun in which they performed Lowborn in its entirety. The single was released in late September that year, and the heavy rock sound gave me Halloween vibes. I decided to design the fall Anberlin playlist with the contrasting beautiful autumn days, spooky nights, and becoming more and more bleak as we approach winter. Happy listening! Listen on Spotify.

  We haven’t talked about the latest Anberlin EP, Silverline . Last summer, the band released their first project since 2014’s supposed-to-be swan song, Lowborn . This time, Anberlin has partnered with Equal Vision Records , rather than with their old family at Tooth & Nail . Rather than releasing a full-length record, the band decided to release it in two parts, Silverline and Convicted , which will arrive at the end of this month. On an episode of Lead Singer Syndrome , Stephen Christian said that the band had decided to release the album in two parts because he “didn’t understand the music industry these days.”  YOU KEEP GETTING CLOSER BUT YOU’RE SO DISTANT INSIDE. Anberlin isn’t the first band to release their albums as a series of EPs. When Mae became an independent artist, they released their ( m)orning , ( a)fternoon , and ( e)vening , which later combined into ( m)(a)(e) . Relient K released their K…Is for Karaoke record in two parts. Acceptance ’s latest record was re

With fans’ hearts freshly broken from the whirlwind year of 2014– when  Anberlin  announced their disbandment,  final album , and last world tour—lead singer  Stephen Christian  certainly wasn't walking away from music. First settling down in Nashville, he began exclusively writing songs for other artists. But in mid-2015 he released two  Anchor & Braille  tracks, " Detroit Stab " and " Fatal Flaw ." In February of 2016, Anchor & Braille released  Songs for the Late Night Drive Home , the third full-length project with the lead single, " Watch You Burn " and a lyric video proceeding the album's release. I WANNA WATCH YOU CATCH FIRE.  In interviews Stephen Christian has stated that Anchor & Braille projects usually reflect the style of music he's currently listening to. For the third installment, Christian talks about listening to  Washed Out  and  M83 , which can be heard in the chill, "late-night" synth sounds of the albu

Stephen Christian  under the appellation of  Anchor & Braille  released their third record,  in February of 2016. Stephen Christian said in an interview that he imagines a movie scene for his Anchor & Braille projects, and the title  Songs for the Late Night Drive Home is descriptive of that movie scene. The electronic sounds imagine an urban setting--New York's " Lower East Side ," Los Angelo’s’ Silver Lake, Orlando--anywhere that, during the day cars would fill the streets. But the late night drive home is peaceful. You're in your car driving past the empty office buildings for 34:23 seconds past midnight. KISS ME LIKE YOU STILL BELIEVE.   Songs for the Late Night Drive Home is a kind of closing of the Stephen Christian electronic era, which started with Anberlin 's Vital   in 2012. In some ways, Vital was like the band had just discovered synthesizers. The band had scarcely used keys or synthesizers on their five records prior to Vital. Christian cite