Anberlin's Dark Is The Way, Light is a Place, which received a three-star review from USA Today, enters at No. 9 on The Billboard 200, marking the Universal Republic rockers' highest charting album to date. Within hours of its release, Dark Is The Way, Light is a Place debuted at No. 1 on both Amazon.com and the iTunes Alternative Album Chart, and at No. 2 on iTunes' overall album chart. It was also No. 1 at CIMS (Coalition Independent Music Stores).
Lead single "Impossible" is already a Top 5 hit at Alternative radio and is on every major alternative station in the country, including KROQ-Los Angeles, Q101-Chicago, 89X-Detroit, The Edge-Dallas, KNDD-Seattle, 91X-San Diego and KRBZ-Kansas City. It goes to the Hot AC format later this month. USA Today recently named "Impossible" the "pick of the week," calling it "insistent, insinuating...hard to resist." "From the first note that ripples through 'Impossible,' Anberlin hooks the listener," said Billboard. The single is available now on iTunes and Amazon. "Take Me (As You Found Me)," another track from Dark Is The Way, Light is a Place, is also charting on the iTunes Alternative Singles chart.
MTV2 recently premiered the video for "Impossible," which has also been added at Fuse, mtvU and Much More. The clip was directed by Endeavor Media, who worked with the band on its "Feel Good Drag" video.
Anberlin will launch a North American headlining tour at New Orleans' House of Blues on September 28th. Crash Kings and Civil Twilight will open on the outing. Anberlin will also play a show with 30 Seconds to Mars on September 30th in Oklahoma City. (See below for full tour itinerary.)
While on tour, Anberlin will partner with Live Nation for a unique contest: they'll use social media to let their fans pick Christian McAlhaney and Joey Milligan 's next tattoos - designed by their loyal fans and tattooed by none other than "LA Ink's" Ruthless. All the madness will be filmed at Anberlin's show at the world famous Irving Plaza on October 30th, 2010 in New York City. Joey, guitar player for Anberlin, has this to say about the contest; "This is seriously the most unique opportunity we have had to really let our fans leave their mark on us! We are huge fans of Ruthless' work and can't wait for this!" Fan submissions will begin on September 24th. Go to www.facebook.com/livenationfor all the details.
Dark Is The Way, Light is a Place, the band's fifth studio album, has been hailed as "moody modern rock" by Alternative Press, which awarded it four stars, adding: "the band allow Stephen Christian's strong lyricism and impassioned vocals to take center stage to deliver some of his finest performances yet. There's an emotional weight in his work, and that often speaks louder than any wall of distortion could." In a three-star review, USA Today praised its "poetry and friction," noting: "Lyrically and musically, these tunes bristle with relational tension that doesn't easily resolve. Producer Brendan O'Brien makes the anthems arena-ready without taking off their edge."
"Feel Good Drag," the No. 1 single from Anberlin's 2008 breakthrough album,New Surrender, has been tapped for Activision's new Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. The track ranks asthe longest-charting single in Modern Rock history and was named 2009's "Rock Song of the Year" by FMQB.
Formed in Winter Haven, FL in 2002, Anberlin has sold over 700,000 albums in its career and toured the world, sharing stages with American Rejects, My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, Paramore and many others.
The band has been involved in numerous humanitarian efforts and lead vocalist Stephen Christian is a co-founder of Faceless International, an organization that defends exploited people worldwide.
Anberlin is:
Stephen Christian: Vocals, guitar
Joseph Milligan: Lead guitar
Devon Rexroat: Bass
Christian McAlhaney: Rhythm guitar
Nathan Young: Drums
Anberlin - North American Tour Dates
9/18 Englewood, CO Comfort Dental Amphitheatre-KTCL Big Gig
9/25 Kansas City, MO Capital Federal Park at Sandstone
9/28 New Orleans, LA House of Blues
9/29 Dallas, TX House of Blues
9/30 Oklahoma City, OK Diamond Ballroom
(opening for 30 Seconds to Mars)
10/1 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theater
10/2 Phoenix, AZ Marquee Theater
10/3 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues
10/5 Salt Lake City, UT The Complex
10/6 Reno, NV Knitting Factory
10/8 Los Angeles, CA House of Blues
10/9 Anaheim, CA House of Blues
10/10 San Francisco, CA The Regency @ The Grand
10/12 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
10/13 Boise, ID Knitting Factory
10/14 Seattle, WA Showbox SoDo
10/15 Spokane, WA Knitting Factory
10/16 Vancouver, BC The Vogue Theater
10/18 Calgary, AB MacEwan Hall
10/19 Edmonton, AB Edmonton Event Center
10/20 Saskatoon, SK Odeon
10/21 Winnipeg, MB Garrick Center
10/22 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
10/23 Chicago, IL House of Blues
10/25 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall
10/26 Toronto, ON Sound Academy
10/28 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
10/29 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts
10/30 New York, NY The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza
10/31 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
11/1 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
11/3 Nashville, TN Rocketown
11/4 Atlanta, GA Masquerade
11/5 St. Petersburg, FL Jannus Landing
11/6 Orlando, FL House of Blues
Universal Republic rockers Anberlin will launch a North American headlining tour at New Orleans' House of Blues on September 28th. Crash Kings and Civil Twilight will open on the outing, which includes stops at Los Angeles' House of Blues (October 8th) and The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza (October 30th). Anberlin will also play a show with 30 Seconds to Mars on September 30th in Oklahoma City. (See below for full tour itinerary.)
"Impossible," the lead single from Anberlin's upcoming album, Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place, is the #1 Most Added track at Alternative radio and the Greatest Gainer for the fourth consecutive week, moving up to #14*. The track is already on every major alternative station in the country, including KROQ-Los Angeles, Q101-Chicago, 89X-Detroit, The Edge-Dallas, KNDD-Seattle and 91X-San Diego. Available now on iTunes and Amazon, the single was recently the "pick of the week" in USA Today, which called it "insistent, insinuating...hard to resist." The video for "Impossible" was directed by Endeavor Media, who worked with the band on its "Feel Good Drag" video and lensed Owl City's "Fireflies." MTV2 recently gave "Impossible" its premiere and it's been added at Much More. You can check out the clip - and Spin.com's recent "Name That Band!" feature on Anberlin - at:
http://www.spin.com/articles/why-theyre-called-anberlin
With "Impossible" exploding at radio, Universal Republic has moved up the release date of the new album by two weeks - to September 7th. Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place - which takes its title from a line in Dylan Thomas' "Poem On His Birthday" - has been hailed as "one of the most anticipated albums of 2010" by Alternative Press. It's the band's fifth studio album and was produced by GRAMMY® Award winner Brendan O'Brien (Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, Rage Against the Machine).
The anthemic "We Owe This To Ourselves," another track from the upcoming album, was the main song used on ESPN's X-Games recently.
Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place follows Anberlin's 2008 breakthrough album, New Surrender, which was the band's second album to debut in the Top 20 of The Billboard 200. Its No. 1 single, "Feel Good Drag," ranks as the longest-charting single in Modern Rock history and was named 2009's "Rock Song of the Year" by FMQB.
Formed in Winter Haven, FL in 2002, Anberlin has sold over 700,000 albums in its career and toured the world, sharing stages with American Rejects, My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, Paramore and many others.
The band has been involved in numerous humanitarian efforts and lead vocalist Stephen Christian is a co-founder of Faceless International, an organization that defends exploited people worldwide.
Anberlin is:
Stephen Christian: Vocals, guitar
Joseph Milligan: Lead guitar
Devon Rexroat: Bass
Christian McAlhaney: Rhythm guitar
Nathan Young: Drums
Anberlin - North American Tour Dates
9/18 Englewood, CO Comfort Dental Amphitheatre-KTCL Big Gig
9/25 Kansas City, MO Capital Federal Park at Sandstone
9/28 New Orleans, LA House of Blues
9/29 Dallas, TX House of Blues
9/30 Oklahoma City, OK Diamond Ballroom (opening for 30 Seconds to Mars)
10/1 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theater
10/2 Phoenix, AZ Marquee Theater
10/3 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues
10/5 Salt Lake City, UT The Complex
10/6 Reno, NV Knitting Factory
10/8 Los Angeles, CA House of Blues
10/9 Anaheim, CA House of Blues
10/10 San Francisco, CA The Regency @ The Grand
10/12 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
10/13 Boise, ID Knitting Factory
10/14 Seattle, WA Showbox SoDo
10/15 Spokane, WA Knitting Factory
10/16 Vancouver, BC The Vogue Theater
10/18 Calgary, AB MacEwan Hall
10/19 Edmonton, AB Edmonton Event Center
10/20 Saskatoon, SK Odeon
10/21 Winnipeg, MB Garrick Center
10/22 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
10/23 Chicago, IL House of Blues
10/25 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall
10/26 Toronto, ON Sound Academy
10/28 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
10/29 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts
10/30 New York, NY The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza
10/31 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
11/1 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
11/3 Nashville, TN Rocketown
11/4 Atlanta, GA Masquerade
11/5 St. Petersburg, FL Jannus Landing
11/6 Orlando, FL House of Blues
(New York, NY - June 16, 2010) Universal Republic rockers Anberlin will release their much-buzzed about fifth studio album, Dark Is The Way, Light is a Place,on September 21st. The band recorded it at Nashville's renowned Blackbird Studio with Brendan O'Brien (Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, Rage Against the Machine), who won the GRAMMY® award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical earlier this year. "Impossible" - the driving lead single that soars with an exhilarating pop Foo Fighters vibe as it captures love's tug of war - will go to radio in mid-July. "We Owe This To Ourselves," another track from Dark Is The Way, Light is a Place, will be the main song used on ESPN's X-Games this summer.
The forthcoming record follows Anberlin's New Surrender, which was the band's second album to debut in the Top 20 of The Billboard 200. "Feel Good Drag," New Surrender's first single, hit No. 1 on the Modern Rock charts and now holds the record as the longest-charting single in Modern Rock history. Named 2009's "Rock Song of the Year" by FMQB, it will be a featured song on the in-store version of "Guitar Hero 6," due out this September. Anberlin's cover of New Order's "True Faith" appeared on the subsequently released deluxe version of New Surrender and was tapped for the season finale of The CW's "The Vampire Diaries." Anberlin, which formed in Winter Haven, FL in 2002, has sold over 700,000 albums and toured the world, sharing stages with American Rejects, My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, Paramore and many others.
Dark Is The Way, Light is a Place - which takes its title from a line in Dylan Thomas' "Poem On His Birthday" - examines the battle implicit in life and in love. "Love is a friction, a chemistry," says Anberlin's front man, Stephen Christian. "We need to fight it out in a good way, not with threats of leaving, but to, in love, find an understanding."
If such an understanding isn't reached, the consequences can be shattering, as detailed in the hypnotic "The Art of War," which veers from slow burn to full sonic assault and the heart wrenching "Take Me As You Found Me."The cathartic "To The Wolves"tackles betrayal head-on while in the gentle, acoustic "Down," the protagonist puts the blame squarely on himself ("feel like a shell of yesteryear gone by/bad decisions like ghosts that just won't die"). The way may be dark, but a powerful vision of light permeates the album. The anthemic "We Owe This To Ourselves" is a resounding call to action: "we owe this to ourselves/to fight, to lead/we owe this to ourselves/we just can't let this go." This deeply rooted conviction speaks not only to Anberlin's view of romantic love, but also to the band's belief that we're accountable for our relationship with the world at large.
To that end, Anberlin has been involved in numerous humanitarian efforts. They've spent time in Africa, working with a local charity to meet the needs of a small community, and traveled to Calcutta, India with Faceless International, where they helped to raise awareness about the dangers of human trafficking. Co-founded by Stephen Christian (lead singer), Faceless International (http://www.facelessinternational.com/)aims to defend the plight of exploited people worldwide who have gone faceless and unknown for far too long. The organization raises awareness about social issues happening throughout the global community, providing first hand experience and education through trips around the world and solution-based opportunities through regional resources.
Anberlin is:
Stephen Christian: Vocals
Joseph Milligan: Lead guitar
Devon Rexroat: Bass
Christian McAlhaney: Rhythm guitar
Nathan Young: Drums
The track listing for Dark Is The Way, Light is a Place is as follows:
1. We Owe This To Ourselves
2. Impossible
3. Take Me As You Found Me
4. Closer
5. You Belong To Me
6. Pray Tell
7. The Art Of War
8. To The Wolves
9. Down
10. Depraved
