Looking for something new? Here’s what I’ve been listening to lately…
Artist: Anberlin
Album: Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place (September 7, 2010)
Style: Moody, anthemic rock
Anberlin is back with a vengeance, and from the opening guitar riffs you know they’re knocking the socks off of anyone who thought New Surrender was boring. Overall the music is strong and dark with lots of driving guitar (think Cities) and even a smattering of piano, organ, and acoustic riffs. Stephen Christian’s voice resonates clearly, but unfortunately it’s mostly just resonating angst. New Surrender showed some attempts at broader songwriting, but pretty much every song here is an emotional pity-party begging her to stay or scowling at her for leaving – does the world really need another song with lyrics like “who needs enemies when we’ve got friends like you”? Ultimately, this is another solid album from Anberlin that is sure to satisfy old fans. But as much as I respect Christian and his craft – see this great interview – the lyrics here are too much for me to recommend.
Standout Lyric:Because of you, I’ll never write another love song. /
Was I the greatest in your arsenal? /
Or just the latest in your art of war?
In Case It Interests You: The members of Anberlin are generally known as Christians.
STREAM THE WHOLE ALBUM: myspace.com/anberlin
Artist: Lakes
Album: The Agreement (September 3, 2010)
Style: Soft acoustic pop with nice instrumentation
Lakes carries a Snow Patrol vibe that’s maybe a little bouncier with an abundant use of keys and even some organ and a bit of accordion, not to mention the acoustic picking that I’m pretty sure is a banjo. If somebody put them in a movie soundtrack, “Oh Lovely” would go in the fireworks part of the relationship, while “The Feeling” would fit perfectly in the part where everything starts to break. Some of the slower anthems are both lush and rough, punctuated by the occasional minor chord that might be what Thrice would sound like if they wrote pop ballads (“Lifting Me Up” is like a 3/4 Jeremy Camp single with less gruff vocals). Sometimes the resonating drum pounding and vocalizing sound more like a Phil-Collins-African-jungle-ride (especially on “When We Were Younger”). Regardless, Lakes keeps things fresh and interesting from beginning to end, and they’re a pleasant surprise waiting just for you.
Standout Lyric: We could go out / We could stay in /
We’ve got this beautiful day /
We could just sing / We could just dance /
We’ve got this beautiful day /
In Case It Interests You: As far as I know the members of Lakes are known as Christians.
STREAM THE WHOLE ALBUM: absolutepunk.net/lakes Read more of this post
