Anberlin, Emery, et Watashi Wa

Anberlin since 2007 has had a consistent line-up of lead vocalist Stephen Christian, bassist Deon Rexroat, guitarists Joseph Milligan and Christian McAlhaney and drummer Nathan Young. Before the advent of Anberlin, members of the band formed the punk band called ‘SaGoh 24/7’ which had two releases, “Servants After God’s Own Heart” in 1999 and “Then I Corrupt Youth” two years later in 2001. Shortly after, the band recorded five demos, which they posted on mp3.com and signed with the label Tooth & Nail Records.

The band’s sound is characterised by Christian’s soaring and lofty vocals, combined with alternative rock and pop/punk elements and have been compared to the sound of Third Blind Eye. Due to their attachment to the label Tooth & Nail Record the Anberlin has often been referred to as a Christian band however lead singer Stephen has dismissed the association.

May 2003 brought the band’s debut album entitled “Blueprints for the Black Market” and on the back of played shows alongside the likes of Fall Out Boy and Story of the Year. Anberlin’s February 2005 follow-up album “Never Take Friendship Personal” featuring new guitarist Nathan Strayer charted at No. 144 on the Billboard 200 and

The band’s third album “Cities” released in early 2007 and produced by Aaron Sprinkle signalled Anberlin’s move into the mainstream, charting well at No. 19 on the Billboard 200 and receiving positive reviews the band, it represented a more mature approach to lyrics and music production.

After this success Anberlin signed to the major label Universal Republic in August 2007 and released their fourth studio album name “New Surrender” produced by Fall Out Boy and New Found Glory producer Neal Avron in September 2008. In support of the album the band toured the U.S. alongside Scary Kids Scaring Kids, There For Tomorrow and Starlight Run.

Anberlin’s fifth studio album “Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place” saw the band work with Grammy winning producer Brendan O’Brien and tour with 30 Seconds to Mars. Their sixth album “Vital” returned the band to long-term producer Aaron Sprinkle and showed a darker side to their music. The band released their seventh album in October 2013 and announced they were disbanding after their 2014 tour.

They made Emerald City their new hometown and signed a record deal with Tooth & Nail Records and wasted no time in heading for the studio to work on their debut album which would later be called “The Weak’s End”. It was produced at the Black Lodge Studio in Eudora, Kansas. It was later released on January 27th 2004. Shortly after, touring extensively, the band headed back into the studio, to work on their following album “The Question”. The project took five weeks to record. It was released on August 2nd 2005, and made it into the US Billboard 200, charting at #45. It became the band’s highest charting album of their career. They re-released the album adding a DVD, which was a documentary film with bonus footage and exerts of Emery performing live songs.

It was whilst the band were on tour in Australia with their contemporaries, Underoath, that Emery announced that they would be releasing a new album. The album “I’m Only A Man” was unfortunately leaked on the Internet before it’s official release on October 2nd 2007. It received mixed reviews. They released a deluxe edition of the album as well, which featured four acoustic songs that were recorded while on the Take Action Tour.

They maintained a certain level of chart success throughout their career with songs such as “…In Shallow Seas We Sail” released on June 2nd 2009, making it into the Christian, Rock, Alternative and Digital Charts as well as the Billboard 200 Chart too. It gave the band their first number one in the Christian Chart. Their subsequent album “What Do What We Want” released on March 29th 2011 followed suit.

The band has made other appearances on compilation albums, most notably a version of “Holding Out for a Hero” originally by Bonnie Tyler featuring on the “Punk Goes 80’s” album.