Anberlin has exclusively premiered their first single, “Stranger Ways” on Billboard.com today, here: http://bit.ly/1jiMSls. “Stranger Ways” is off the band’s last album, lowborn, to be released on June 23rd, 2014. This album brings Anberlin full circle as lowborn will be released on Tooth & Nail, the first record label to which Anberlin was signed. Instead of recording the album together, the musicians did their parts with separate producers they each selected. Drums were recorded with Matt Goldman in Atlanta and later combined with bass and guitar in Lakeland, FL with Copeland’s Aaron Marsh. Vocals were recorded with the band’s longtime collaborator Aaron Sprinkle in Franklin, TN. For more information, please visit: www.anberlin.com.
Consisting of Stephen Christian (vocals), Joseph Milligan (guitar), Deon Rexroat (bass), Nathan Young (drums), and Christian McAlhaney (guitar), Anberlin have been a band for 12 years. The rock group formed in central Florida in 2002 and have released six innovative and sincere albums that have affected fans in deeply emotional ways. lowborn will be the band’s seventh and final full-length.
“Usually breakups happen quickly and suddenly, an implosion of sorts,” McAlhaney says. “What is unique about the end of Anberlin is that we discussed where people were at in their lives, what that meant for the band, and then made plans for the end on our own terms.” lowborn reflects true artistic freedom for the band, who felt liberated from any sort of expectation or pressure. “I wanted to enjoy the creative process one more time, with no restrictions, no one breathing down my neck for a single,” Christian says. “Just unadulterated creative freedom.”
The musicians started collecting new material at the end of last year. The idea was not to crank out as many songs as possible but to actually focus on crafting solidly good ideas that melded each musician’s individual tastes and influences. “We were really honest with each, probably more so than in the past,” Young says. “You have to come to a point where, with different opinions, there’s no right or wrong. There was a fearlessness which was really freeing and exciting for all of us. To just not have to think about anything else except what’s the best thing for the song.” Some of the album’s lyrics address the band’s end and history. “I know there are going to be a lot of questions as to why we decided to break up and I explain it all in the song ‘Atonement,'” Christian says. “And I want to make sure that the our fans and friends know that we will always remember them, and the moments spent with them were some of the greatest of my entire life. I tried to convey that in the song ‘Harbinger.'” Another track, “Stranger Ways,” first appeared in demo form in the band’s farewell video earlier this year.
Each musician has plans for the future after Anberlin, some concrete and some vague, some musical and some not. Those plans, in various ways, will be revealed in the coming months. For everyone, this is a celebration of what has been achieved rather than the mourning of a loss. “This is the end of an era of my life,” Rexroat says. “A long and great era. It also means a new beginning. It’s overwhelming to think about filling all my time with something new, but it’s also exciting.”
Anberlin will release their final album, lowborn, on June 23rd, 2014 via Tooth & Nail Records, followed by a farewell world tour. Tour dates are below with many more to be announced in both the U.S. and additional countries.
For more information, please visit:
Website:www.anberlin.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/anberlin
Twitter: twitter.com/anberlin
YouTube: www.youtube.com/anberlinmusic
Track Listing:
1. We Are Destroyer
2. Armageddon
3. Stranger Ways
4. Velvet Covered Brick
5. Atonement
6. Birds Of Prey
7. Dissenter
8. Losing It All
9. Hearing Voices
10. Harbinger
Tour Dates:
Vans Warped Tour 2014:
6/13 Reliant Park Main St. Yellow Lot Houston, TX
6/14 AT&T Center San Antonio, TX
6/15 Gexa Energy Pavilion Dallas, TX
6/17 Isleta Amphitheater Albuquerque, NM
6/18 Quail Run Park Mesa, AZ
6/19 Luxor Festival Grounds Las Vegas, NV
6/20 Pomona Fairplex Pomona, CA
6/21 Shoreline Amphitheatre Mountain View, CA
6/22 Seaside Park Ventura, CA
6/25 Sleep Train Amphitheatre Chula Vista, CA
6/26 Sleep Train Amphitheatre Wheatland, CA
6/28 White River Amphitheatre Auburn, WA
6/29 Portland Expo Center Parking Lot Portland, OR
7/2 Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Maryland Heights, MO
7/3 Klipsch Music Center Noblesville, IN
7/4 The Flats At Molson Canadian Amphitheatre Toronto, Canada
7/5 Parc Jean Drapeau Montreal, Canada
7/6 PNC Bank Arts Center Holmdel, NJ
7/16 Riverbend Music Center Cincinnati, OH
7/17 Blossom Music Center Cuyahoga Falls, OH
7/18 The Palace of Auburn Hills Auburn Hills, MI
7/19 First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre Tinley Park, IL
7/20 Canterbury Park Shakopee, MN
7/22 Merriweather Post Pavilion Columbia, MD
7/23 Farm Bureau Live Virginia Beach, VA
7/24 Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood Atlanta, GA
7/25 Vinoy Park St. Petersburg, FL
7/26 Cruzan Amphitheatre West Palm Beach, FL
7/27 Central Florida Fairgrounds Orlando, FL
7/28 PNC Music Pavilion Charlotte, NC
7/29 Tennessee State Fairgrounds Nashville, TN
7/30 Marcus Amphitheater Milwaukee, WI
7/31 Cricket Wireless Amphitheater Bonner Springs, KS
8/2 Sports Authority Field At Mile High Denver, CO
The Final Tour:
* More Dates TBA
8/6 Cathouse Glasgow, UK
8/7 Manchester Academy Manchester, UK
8/8 Electric Ballroom London, UK
8/9 Frizon Festival Kumla, Sweden
8/29 Bar Opiniao Porto Alegre, Brazil
8/30 Music Hall Curitiba, Brazil
8/31 Carioca Club Sao Paulo, Brazil
9/3 Metropolis Fremantle, Australia
9/4 The Gov Adelaide, Australia
9/6 The Hifi Brisbane, Australia
9/7 The Roundhouse Sydney, Australia
9/9 The Forum Melbourne, Australia
11/11 Theatre of Living Arts Philadelphia, PA
11/12 House of Blues Boston, MA
11/13 Irving Plaza New York, NY
11/15 Theatre of Living Arts Philadelphia, PA – SOLD OUT
