The Amicable End To Anberlin

According to Christian McAlhaney, that’s how it went down. After one conversation Anberlin decided they wouldn’t keep being a band. Having ridden the emo wave of the early ‘00s into the public consciousness, they managed to survive the burst of the bubble. Where other bands started falling by the wayside, however, Anberlin remained steadfast and consistently good. But, in the end, it was a simple conversation that did them in.

McAlhaney isn’t yet ready to discuss the specifics of that conversation – it sounds like the dissolution is still a bit too fresh – instead he offers the considered press release-type response as to the reasons for the break-up.

"some of the guys are just ready to see what the next chapter of life is.”

“For some of the guys in the band, it feels like the right time to pursue other things in life. A few guys in the band have been playing together for 18 years, plugging away, touring, all those good things… but some of the guys are just ready to see what the next chapter of life is.”

McAlhaney insists there’s no ill will amongst the dudes. That was the reason they were able to write and record Lowborn and commit to touring it around the world before hanging up their guitars.

“Things are still good for us. We’re still getting along great and the band’s still doing well. We’ve seen a lot of other bands that just keep plugging away, and it’s not always good and it’s not always bad, but sometimes bands will get to a point where bands implode, and we never really wanted to do that. We felt that now would be a good time to say goodbye so we could enjoy this last year together and enjoy putting out a final record and doing it all on our own terms.”

When the announcement of the split came through, Anberlin fans could only really console themselves with the knowledge that at least the band would do another album.

“We debated whether we wanted to put out another record or not, because we really like Vital, but it felt weird thinking about ending it without making a final statement. But it was back and forth for a while, because who goes into writing a record knowing that you’re going to break up after it comes out. But then we discovered this freedom that came along with that. Because the outside pressures of record sales and stuff like that wasn’t really there, so we had this freedom to kind of do and say whatever we wanted as a farewell.”

"the outside pressures of record sales and stuff like that wasn’t really there, so we had this freedom to kind of do and say whatever we wanted as a farewell.”

That freedom led the guys to sit down and ask themselves, ‘What would we like the last ever Anberlin record to sound like?’ What resulted was an album that captured the essence of what the band has been and pushes their sound forward in a way that tantalises as to what could have been.

“We asked each person in the band, ‘What kind of song would you want to do that we haven’t already done in this band?’ So we tried a lot of things we’ve never tried before. Obviously we still want to be the band Anberlin, but we wanted to progress so we could say farewell in the best possible way.

“A lot of people have said we’re heavier live, and more energetic, and I don’t know if that’s just the atmosphere of the live show or the performance or all of the above, but that was something we were talking about before we started tracking guitars, and it was definitely a goal to try and capture that energy, but more than anything I just wanted good songs.”

Now the album has been released and Anberlin are on their international farewell jaunt, the reality has started to fully dawn on McAlhaney, who says the outpouring of love from the fans has been overwhelming.

“There’s this thing where if a band says they’re breaking up… when you have something you just take it for granted, so I think now that we’re breaking up people are taking the time to say thank you and tell us what the band meant to them.”

As for what the band has meant to McAlhaney, a member for nearly a decade, the guitarist will only take away fond memories.

“It’s been touring the world with four of my closest friends and feeling totally lucky and totally blessed and doing what I love to do. It’s been a dream job, and it’s been totally fulfilling.”