On their fifth album, Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place, Anberlin continue down the path they started down on New Surrender with a sound that’s even more layered and dense.
Utilizing the talents of Grammy-winning producer Brendan O’Brien, the band’s sound has evolved in a way that’s manages to be less poppy while sounding decidedly more pop, with the album having a casual slickness to it that makes it sound like something that belongs on the radio rather than an something that’s trying to be on the radio.
Part of this comes from the band borrowing heavily from U2’s playbook.
The songs feel more expansive, utilizing lots of delay-heavy guitars to fill more space with simpler melodies, creating a lush musical landscape for singer Stephen Christian’s vocals to explore.
This new direction goes a long way towards separating Anberlin from the rest of the emo-rock pack, giving them a little something to help them standout to the uninitiated while delivering the plaintive pop will please everyone that’s already made a connection with the band.
While they might miss some of the drive that the band brought to the table in their earlier work, the depth of slower and more spacious songs like “Take Me (As You Found Me)” should ultimately prove more rewarding in the long run.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | We Owe This to OurselvesAnberlin, Stephen Christian | Anberlin | Play | 03:12 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 2 | ImpossibleAnberlin, Stephen Christian | Anberlin | Play | 04:03 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 3 | Take Me (As You Found Me)Anberlin, Stephen Christian | Anberlin | Play | 04:12 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 4 | CloserAnberlin, Stephen Christian | Anberlin | Play | 03:46 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 5 | You Belong HereAnberlin, Stephen Christian | Anberlin | Play | 04:22 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 6 | Pray TellAnberlin, Stephen Christian | Anberlin | Play | 03:47 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 7 | The Art of WarAnberlin, Stephen Christian | Anberlin | Play | 04:43 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 8 | To the WolvesAnberlin, Stephen Christian | Anberlin | Play | 03:31 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 9 | DownAnberlin, Stephen Christian | Anberlin | Play | 04:05 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 10 | DepravedAnberlin, Stephen Christian | Anberlin | Play | 05:24 | 12 MB | 34 MB |
| 41 mins | 94 MB | |||||
| 41 mins | 284 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nate Albert | A&R |
| 2 | Anberlin | Composer, Primary Artist |
| 3 | Billy Bowers | Engineer |
| 4 | Jordan Butcher | Art Direction, Design, Photography |
| 5 | Stephen Christian | Composer, Group Member, Lyricist |
| 6 | Nicolas Essig | Assistant |
| 7 | Tom MacKay | A&R |
| 8 | George Marino | Mastering |
| 9 | Christian McAlhaney | Group Member |
| 10 | Joseph Milligan | Group Member |
| 11 | Brendan O'Brien | Mixing, Producer |
| 12 | Deon Rexroat | Group Member |
| 13 | Lowell Reynolds | Assistant |
| 14 | Tom Syrowski | Engineer |
| 15 | Nathan Young | Group Member |
| 16 | Michael Zavros | Cover Illustration |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |