everyone changes: a justification for anberlin's new sound.

Naturally, I was excited about anberlin's new album. When I heard that a great deal of it was inspired by the poetry of Dylan Thomas, that only added to my excitement. However, when I checked out their website about this time last month and saw the way they looked, my excitement was somewhat thwarted. Then I listened to some live concert footage of two of their leading singles, "We Owe This to Ourselves" and "Impossible." It was then that I realized that anberlin was going in a different musical direction. While it is impossible (no pun on the lead single intended) to determine the feel of the new anberlin album, Dark is the Way, Light is a Place, based on the two lead singles alone, I feel that anberlin is being especially true to their sound by adapting it on the new album.

I fell in love with the sound of anberlin from the time I heard their first album. The sound was a mix of classic rock and contemporary pop punk. The biggest problem with Blueprints for the Black Market was that the lyrics were set in Europe, and while they painted a picture in the distance, the lyrics were not related to any greater issue than romance.

The band stepped it up lyrically, but took a hit musically on Never Take Friendship Personal. The band had some great songs on that album, but also some mundane, even lame songs.

In the band's third effort, Cities, anberlin produced a masterpiece; however, I have never read a critic that has pointed out this truth: Anberlin's masterpiece Cities was based on two older formulas, the musicality of Blueprints for the Black Market and the lyrics of Never Take Friendship Personal. The similarity in sound of "Godspeed" and "A Whisper and a Clamour" can be traced to the similarity to "Readyfuels" and "Change the World" on Blueprints. Also one can notice the similarity to "(*Fin)" and "Dance, Dance Christa Paffigan" on Friendship. Sure, Cities implemented new elements, but basically with Cities, anberlin nailed their formula.

I was a little disappointed with their next album, New Surrender, at first, but I got over that with multiple listens. The first half of the album is dark (not nearly as dark as Cities) and the second half is inspirational. It draws parallels to Switchfoot's A Beautiful Letdown. Every anberlin album has had a feel and a concept. Blueprints is nostalgic and a Romanticized European landscape. Friendship is adolescent and Charlie Brown-like. Cities

is open for multiple interpretations (some have found characters to a story), but is ultimately a commentary on modern life. New Surrender is a motivational speech after the clouds of depression that loomed over the Cities listener.

The new album seems to have a feeling, but I'm not sure if the fans will be on board. First, I'll address the white elephant, the new look. Anberlin has never been a trendy band. They're album artwork in the past has focused on other factors than fashion. Blueprints focused on cobblestone streets. Cities focused on coffee shops and the studio. New Surrender focused on a the band chilling in a room with a couple acoustic guitars, a bottle of wine, and a picture of Jesus on the wall. The artwork for the new album is centered on the band, who now look like a mix between sixties greasers who were revived in the '80s and the Cure.

The new music sounds different--no longer the guitar runs of "Readyfuels" and "Godspeed," no longer the blaring guitars of "Hello Alone," no longer the confessional of "Dismantle.Repair." or "Cadence," no longer the foreboding of "Paperthin Hymn," or "(*Fin)," or the sounds of dissatisfaction in "Breaking" or the spirituality in "Miserable vius"--instead, anberlin seems to be taking us to 1985-ish. The journey takes elements of the Smiths, the Clash, and the poetry of Dylan Thomas, the style of the '80s, but the listeners discovers this is not 1985, nor the Smiths, the Clash, and Dylan Thomas, but an alternate reality created by fragments of each of those elements. This is my rationale if old anberlin fans. They made music for us, now they're being truer to themselves and taking us along for the trip.

Dark is a Place, Light is the Way--I'll be downloading it Sept. 21. Having said that, I'm going to share the link to their website and their latest video, "Impossible," so you can love it, hate it, or like me, just be along for the ride:

Anberlin's website: anberlin's website

Video: "Impossible"