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BAND OF THE MONTH: ANBERLIN
Deciding which band to choose for the month of November was not easy, as I had two fantastic bands in mind. But in the end I decided to pay tribute to a band that has personally done wonders for me. This band is made up of five members, Stephen Christian on Lead Vocals, Joseph Milligan on Lead Guitar and backing Vocals, Nathan Young on drums, Deon Rexroat on Bass and Christian McAlhaney on Guitar and backing vocals. They are known as Anberlin.
Anberlin formed in 2002 and has released four full-length records. New Surrender being their latest which was released in September 2008. 2003 introduced us to Anberlin with Blueprints for the Black Market, which was released through Tooth and Nail records. As were 2005’s Never Take Friendship Personal and 2007’s Cities, which debuted on Billboards top 20. The band signed to Universal Republic in 2007 and recently released New Surrender on that label. I recently got a chance to interview Stephen, and one of the questions I asked was, “How has your music evolved since you started?” his response being, “Oh, drastically.” And if you were to sit down and listen to all of these albums, as I often do, you would most definitely notice a change, and a maturity in their music. In only the best way of course. With songs like, “Burn Out Brighter,” and “Soft Skeletons.” they show that the band is reaching to more serious topics, and trying to send a message that these are things everyone needs to be aware of. This is a band that absolutely loves, supports and is so grateful to their fans, as their fans are to them.
For me personally, Anberlin has been in my top five bands for about five years now. They never cease to amaze me and I keep falling in love with every new song. They have helped me through a lot in life, as most music does to people. When I saw they were playing the 2008 Warped Tour, that pretty much sealed the deal for me to go. I’m not going to lie, I cried when it was near hurricane weather and we had to leave, so I didn’t get to see them. I sent an email to their wonderful PR guy, Kevin, in hopes of getting an interview with them. But since I’m the pessimistic person I am, I really didn’t expect a response. So obviously I cried when I not only got a response, but an interview as well!! (I’m sorry, it was a huge deal for me!!) On october 27th I finally got to see Anberlin live after five years and I was completely thrown off. I didn’t know what to expect, but I didn’t expect that!! I have never in all the shows I’ve been to, seen a crowd like that one. I could barely even hear Stephen singing because the crowd knew every word and was in no way afraid to show the guys their dedication. The power, the energy and the sheer love of music that came from the band, and the crowd. Completely speechless. I didn’t get a chance to meet them after the show but I will someday!
I wanted to give you my top five Anberlin songs, and why. But that is just impossible to do. So, these are just five of my favorites and why. In no order!
Song: Alexithymia.
Album: Cities.
“There’s more to living then being alive.”
This line is what life is. Its tattooed on my arm. I look at it when I forget what everything is about. I listen to the song when I forget what everything is about.
Song: Breathe.
Album: New Surrender
“No need to hide anything, anymore. Can’t return to who I was before. I can finally breathe. Suddenly alive.”
Well, I don’t want to go back to the person I was. I hated myself. I mean, I might not be my biggest fan, but I’m pretty content with myself. I’m so sick of hiding. I always hide. From everything and everyone. This song makes me want to feel life. (If that makes any sense…but it doesn’t need to because it does to me.)
Song: The Haunting.
Album : Lost Songs
“Your spirit I can’t see, but I still believe I can feel your breath on me.”
Oh what to say about The Haunting. I honestly don’t think I’m intelligent enough to think of a word to describe exactly how this song makes me feel. A few years ago someone walked into my life, destroyed it, then walked out and I haven’t really been able to forget about it. Even though this probably isn’t what this song is about, that is how I see it. And that is how it’s helped me. As its been a long time, but I am still thinking about this person and how they affected my life, both in a positive and a very negative way. (haha That was actually what I was trying to tell you when you asked.)
Song: The Undeveloped Story.
Album : Blueprints for the Black Market.
“I think that I’m in love with clamor.”
That line actually made me laugh because I thought he was saying Glamor. And then I got picturing like, sparkly shirts and the like. Which I cant really see anyone from Anberlin doing! …Maybe I’m wrong though, who knows!
Song: Never Take Friendship Personal.
Album: Never Take Friendship Personal.
“Words have no meaning when its you that says ‘I really do care, no baby, I really do care.’”
First song I ever heard by Anberlin. This is where it began! And it was this line that was like, WOAH, for me! Pretty much because when I first heard this song, someone was telling me they care, but clearly those words had no meaning whatsoever!
I’ve gone on long enough. So I will end with a simple, if you haven’t heard these men yet, listen. If you have, keep listening.
When this month's Band was selected and we found out it would be Anberlin I started listening to them more and more. I had known of the band, and heard a few tracks before (mostly in my friend Liam's car, he's a big fan) and I've always liked what I had heard, but failed on the proactive edge and picked up their album. So when I learned that Anberlin would be our Band of the Month, I took that step and downloaded some stuff from iTunes, and here it is in spades:
I love it. The vocals literally give me chills and make my throat tighten up in that almost-going-to-cry kind of way. But the good cry, the kind you've been waiting to happen for months and you just sob your face off and afterwards you feel a zillion times better. I seem to always be putting situations to the music to explain how I feel about it, well.. my situation for Anberlin is that it's perfect music for a really great bubble bath at 2:00 in the afternoon on your day off. That care-free, all-about-me time when you can just put your headphones on, sit back relax and let the music take you wherever it will. And if that leads to a good cry, so be it.
My favourite song that I've heard so far is "Breathe" from their album "New Surrender", it's absolutely beautiful, the lyrics are beautiful, the vocals sweep me away and the instrumentation is gorgeous.
Just as a sidenote: I just got a resounding "Told you so" from Liam.
Before this month’s call for Band of the Month, I had not listened to Anberlin extensively. It’s not that I didn’t want to, it’s more of what Caity said: I wasn’t proactive about it. I almost got to see them live at Warped in Toronto, but a massive torrential downpour prevented me and the rest of the Sound Faction girls from enjoying Anberlin goodness.
However, since the call for this month’s band went out, I have listened to more and more Anberlin, and I fell in love with the vocals. The lead singer has the elusive ability to sing like he belongs on Broadway and also scream like all the good rockers can. It’s seriously amazing. From their new album, definitely listen to “Feel Good Drag” and “Disappear” to hear the amazing combination of great singing and screaming. To come down off of the high of the singing/screaming combination, listen to “Breathe” and “The Unwinding Cable Car.” The lyrics in those songs just break my heart because they are so earnest.
Again, Anberlin is a great band, and you hopefully you’ll have more luck catching them live than the SF girls had this summer. They are currently on tour, so check out their myspace page for current dates (if you’re in the Norfolk, Virginia area, they are playing at the Norva on 11/3 and tickets are $15 and still available. Thought it might provide a little incentive.) So, go check them out. Do it. Now.
I'm going to be honest here, before this years Warped Tour I didn't really know anything about Anberlin. I will admit that I knew the name, thanks to the amazing Jen, but I'd never actually sat down and listened to them. Jen had been spending the weekend at my place (for what I'm sure was some random Sound Faction outing) and she loaded some of their music onto my laptop. I then popped it onto my iPod and started listening to it back and forth to work (which is the most my iPod ever gets used by the way). I have to say the sound of Stephen's voice really reaches out to you. There is a quality about it that both soothes you and makes you energized for whatever is about to come. When the Sound Faction girls attended Warped Tour, Anberlin was one of the bands on the list that we were to see. However, due to the weather not cooperating with us, we were unable to see them at all. Of course, Jen being a huge fan, found that they were coming back to town in October. Of course, I'm always up to going to live shows and promised I would go with her, I went, and I have to say I greatly enjoyed their live show.
Sometimes there is just something about a band that brings people together, and I have a feeling that Anberlin is one of those bands that can bring a group of people together who maybe haven't talked in years. Their lyrics are very inspiring and from listening to the songs, each one has a message behind it that means something. There is a clear message in their lyrics that if you aren't affected you don't know good music. I'm going to leave you with the lyrics to the song they used to end their show here in Toronto, one that honestly made a few tears peek in my eyes.
Billy, don't you understand? Timothy stood as long as he could You made his faith disappear, More like a magician, And less like a man of the cloth, We're not questioning God, Just those he chose to carry on his cause, We'll grow better, you'll see, Just all of us, the lost causes.
Aren't we all to you just lost causes? Aren't we all to you lost? Lost causes. Aren't we all to you. Is all we are, is all we are. What we are is all we are.
They just saved all of the lost, like you.
Aren't we all to you just lost causes? Aren't we all to you lost? Lost causes. Aren't we all to you. Is all we are, is all we are. What we are is all we are.
They just saved all of the lost, like you.
Now Anberlin is one of those bands that I've been hearing about in the scene forever. I had never really heard anything by them, but I knew of their existence, that kind of deal. I continued on in this sort of... limbo... until a few months ago when Jen was telling me about a school project that she needed to do, and she was thinking about using an Anberlin song ("The Haunting", I believe,) as the subject. That was when I admitted to her that I'd never actually heard anything by them.
Well, a shocked look and an iPod shuffle later I was sitting in our friend Laura's car, on the way to our tattoo parlor, listening to a few select songs. It didn't take much beyond the (this sounds cheesy, but it's damn true) spine-tingling vocals and music that can sweep you into the song in a heartbeat to know I was going to be hooked.
Taking Jen's advice into which songs I should look into, I, like I predicted, am completely hooked. I'm still stuck on Alexithymia, and one of the most simple, but brutally honest lines I've heard in awhile is the one that sticks with me the most, "There's more to living than being alive."
I'm still kicking myself for not being able to go with Jen and Natty to the Anberlin show here last month in late October, but unfortunately, work did call, but Jen mentioned them coming back in January, so you know what? One of my birthday presents to myself will be that show.
So if you like gorgeously formed songs that can bring you to tears and shivers in the best possible way, you most definitely should check out Anberlin. You won't regret it.
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