:: Anberlin - New Surrender

Anberlin

After a phenomenally successful three album run with independent label Tooth & Nail Records, Florida based emo/pop rock act Anberlin have made the jump to the majors last year, with ‘New Surrender’ the band’s debut outing with Universal Republic Records. While shifting to a major label can sometimes lead to disastrous results (you need only listen to former Tooth & Nail Records act Mae and their Capital Records debut ‘Singularity’ from last year), Anberlin have managed to not only survive the move, but also take another step towards world domination with the release of ‘New Surrender’. On the surface, Anberlin haven’t watered down their trademark song writing qualities to appease their new label, with the album boasting the band’s lush harmonies, melodic choruses and their easy to relate to lyrical prose. But where ‘New Surrender’ does stand out is with its overall feel, with the twelve tracks on the album retaining the cinematic scope of 2007’s ‘Cities’, but with the added rocking sensibility of their 2003 debut ‘Blueprints For The Black Market’.

The opening track ‘The Resistance’ is a hard hitting number that well and truly announces the band’s return, with huge drum and guitar sounds providing the band with one of their heaviest soundtracks to date. Following on in a similar nature is the first single ‘Feel Good Drag’, where the band once again up the aggression, but not at the cost of the all important melody. The band provides plenty of variety, with ‘Breaking’, the ‘80’s keyboard tinged ‘Disappear’, ‘Blame Me! Blame Me!’, ‘Burn Out Brighter (Northern Lights)’, the up-tempo/feel good rocker ‘Haight St.’ representing some of the more rocking efforts on the album. Elsewhere, semi-ballad ‘Retrace’, the acoustic based ‘Breathe’ and the laid back ‘Younglife’ provide plenty of breathing space throughout the album with their differing feels and changes of moods. Finishing up the album is ‘Soft Skeletons’, which sounds remarkably close to something that could have come from U.K. act Feeder, and the beautifully orchestrated anthem of sorts ‘Miserabile Visu (Ex Malo Bonum)’. Anberlin may not have taken a radical new direction with ‘New Surrender’, but they certainly haven’t failed to deliver what is essentially another stunning release. Either way, if you’re a fan of Anberlin, this album is simply too good to pass up. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.