In eight years as a band, Anberlin has taken a different route with its fifth album, Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place. Today the album will be for sale after streaming on Anberlin’s Myspace for a week.
With the help of Grammy Award winning producer Brendan O’Brien, whose previous work has been with Rage Against the Machine and Bruce Springsteen, the band made an excellent album. O’Brien probably would not have produced the album if O’Brien’s daughter did not introduce her father to Anberlin.
The album’s title was taken from the Dylan Thomas work, “Poem on His Birthday.” The poem clearly contributes to the concept of love and life, the title was chosen since the poem matched the theme of the album. Many of frontman Stephen Christian’s lyrics come from his experiences through his own philanthropy Faceless International and being an advocate for To Write Love on Her Arms. The chanting of the ironic lyrics “Who needs enemies when we got friends like you,” in “To the Wolves” was amazing with the tone which resembled Jimmy Eat World.
The instrumental ability as a whole, was impressive with the equalization of instruments. Anberlin threw in a string section on several songs. “Pray Tell” makes one feel like he or she is listening to an alternative symphony.
A slight change in Anberlin’s style was different on this album. On certain songs, it was proof that Christian’s side project Anchor and Braille’s delicate qualities had a major influence on Anberlin’s new style. On numerous songs in general it slightly mirrored The Smiths, a major influence on the band.
At different points in the album, one would feel like they heard a bit of Radiohead and The Smashing Pumpkins’ guitars. By hearing this album, one must its old sound from Anberlin’s past albums such as Cities. It seems like the band has slowed down on the pace of its songs. However, each of member’s musical abilities have grown making the album contain an interesting variety.
In “We Owe This to Ourselves,” Nathan Young’s percussion plays a significant role in the effect of the song. The rhythmic percussion flows in harmony with the guitar and bass throughout the album especially on the track “Pray Tell.”
Christian’s melodic vocals has always separated Anberlin from numerous bands in the alternative scene. A critical improvement that was noticed in the band was Christian’s ability on the piano. If one thought Christian’s piano rhythms were catching and intriguing on “Breaking,” listen to the classical elements in the persuasive “You Belong Here.”
Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place is the certain album which you know you love when you catch yourself singing along to the chorus of every song, eager wanting to learn what will be next.
Even though it resembled a vast variety of musicians, Anberlin still stayed true to its old elements for the album. One can clearly feel the emotions put through the work in the album, making one feel a sense of peace at the end. In “Art of War,” it states, “Because of you, I will never write another love song.” However, I can see more love songs written and great songs produced from Anberlin.