NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

  Anberlin had recorded their seventh studio album, Vital , with Aaron Sprinkle when they set out on an acoustic tour. The band known for their energetic live shows decided to create an intimate atmosphere, reinterpreting some of their classics, fan favorites, and deep cuts. Anberlin actually did two acoustic tours, one before Vital and one after the album’s release; however, the tour is only captured in a one-night performance in Williamsburg , later released as a bonus disc with Devotion , a massive repacking of Vital. The concert starts with an album cut , “ Take Me ” (As You Found Me), from Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place , the album the band was still promoting.  YOU’RE HERE WITH ME. If there is an album that Anberlin would say is their peak sound, they would probably say it was Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place. The band delves into their post-punk influences. From the album’s promotion-- the fashion chosen for the photoshoots, the talk of Dylan Thomas’ “ Poem on His Birthday

Today, we're listening to Tension by Anchor & Braille . Years ago, I wanted to hear Stephen Christian as a pop singer. I heard his vocal potential in the middle of Anberlin 's hardest rock. There were glimpses even on songs like " The Feel Good Drag ," showing that Christian wasn't just a baritone grunge singer. When Christian first released music under Anchor & Braille, the music was more acoustic indie on Felt , but started to gravitate to pop music. Anberlin, too, also released poppier music on albums like Vital . But 2016 saw Anchor & Braille releasing an electronic pop record in the vein of M83 and Washed Out  on Songs for the Late Night Drive Home .  1. " No Ordinary ."  Anchor & Braille's fourth record, Tension, continues Stephen Christian in the pop vein. The album's opener is a beautiful '80s/'90s-styled love song about not being able to sleep so enamored by the person that you love. 2. " Black Sea "

In early 2012 when  Anberlin  announced that they would be returning with an album produced by  Aaron Sprinkle , longtime fans knew that they were in for a good record. While their prior major label releases had stretched the band and had proven how versatile their sound was, the band had not produced an album that matched the lyrical and musical depth of their fan- favorite,   Cities . 2012's   Vital   took Anberlin to both familiar territory and reinvented their sound.   I CAN FINALLY FORGET A PAST YOU SAY YOU NEVER KNEW.  Vital  is a heavier album than their previous two. But, up to that point, the band did very little with electronic music.   Vital,  however, opened to the electro-heavy " Self-Starter ," complete with an autotune chorus, somewhat reminiscent of   Avenged Sevenfold 's " Lost ." In fact, many of the the tracks incorporated electronic elements. The band admits to consuming a lot of   M83   at that time.  Critics and fans both loved  Vital .

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