Anberlin release their last album, “Lowborn”. This album brings Anberlin full circle as “Lowborn” will be released on Tooth & Nail, the band's original label. 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.
Consisting of Stephen Christian (vocals), Joseph Milligan (guitar), Devon 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.”