Florida four-piece Anberlin release their sixth album, which has them digging up their roots and experimenting with new sounds all at the same time.
Alternative rock veterans Anberlin have been together for ten years now, and latest studio album Vital proves they have just as much energy and influence as the day they debuted. This could be partly due to the fact that they brought highly praised producer Aaron Sprinkle, who paved the way for their first three albums, back on board.
“He was such an influence in the early days, guiding us through the minefield that is being a musician in the music industry,” vocalist and guitarist Stephen Christian explains. “We’ve worked with some amazing producers but we felt like we had learnt enough to go back to a producer who we felt at home with and trusted with the new material.”
While the band is known for their alternative rock sound and energetic stage presence, for Vitalthey have ventured into other genres that coincide with their recent musical interests. Christian sees these inventive electro elements as contributing to Anberlin’s progression as a maturing band, without straying too far from their roots.
“We didn’t want to become unrecognizable. We experimented with everything from using female vocalists, to electronics, to even having a horn section on one song. Hopefully Anberlin fans will see that we are just trying to grow but we’re not trying to change into something they’re not going to like.”
The album also features collaborative track ‘Orpheum’ where fans submitted Youtube videos of themselves singing and Anberlin chose four fans to craft the choral backdrop of the song.
“I realized that the song had more of a contemporary feel to it,” Christian says. “We tried to keep it as low key as possible with just a few fans. We ended up searching through a thousand different videos and found four people who we really liked and who fit the mood and the song.”
After Australia gets a good taste of the new album, we can experience the band in the flesh for their April 2013 tour.
“I like the fact that we are coming in April because it gives people time to learn and memorize the record so when they’re out there singing the new songs, it’s like everyone is into it. We’re so ready.”
Vital is out now. Anberlin will tour Australia in April.
