Two years in the making, Anberlin’s new album, Dark is the Way, Light is a Place, is finally here. Fans like myself, who have been anxiously waiting since the album was announced over the summer, will not be disappointed.

Unable to resist, I bought the album on my iPhone the day it came out — Sept. 7. My brothers and I listened to the songs as they finished downloading. My lack of patience was definitely rewarded. Every song I listened to sounded better than its predecessor.

Keeping true to Anberlin’s alternative sound, Dark is the Way, Light is a Place has a very familiar sound. The style and topics of the songs follow a similar pattern. However, the bass and guitar are more prominent in this album.

The album opens with upbeat sounds of “We Owe This to Ourselves.” The song is fast-paced with guitar riffs consistent through the entire song. While the song is fast-moving, the lyrics are not necessarily upbeat but rather intense. It reminded me of the song “Godspeed” from a previous Anberlin album.

This style of music really appeals to me. Perhaps because I am a fast-moving person, I enjoy upbeat music. The music is creative and has an underlying intensity which makes my ears happy.

The next few songs carried a similar rhythm and sound — a little on the softer side, but definitely more edgy than Anberlin’s previous album, A New Surrender. I prefer this unique sound, and found the previous album to a be a little bit slow and some songs boring. The sounds and topics of that album just do not hold my attention.

To my surprise, I really enjoy “To the Wolves,” despite its repetitive chorus. The lyrics, “To the wolves, you left me to the wolves / who needs enemies when we’ve got friends like you,” is followed by a sequence of “whoa-ohs.” Usually I dislike choruses that that have very few discrepancies. However, I really enjoy this song, probably because of the “whoa-oh,” which makes every song better.

Another favorite is “Down.” Even though it is one of the softer songs on the album, it is still interesting enough to hold my attention. Lyrics like “Feel like a shell of yester-years gone by / Bad decisions like ghosts that just won’t die” give the song intensity and meaning.

In this album, there are not any songs that I do not like. While some do not excite me quite as much as others, there aren’t any that make me press the skip button. Not yet, anyway; I may tire of them later.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with Anberlin, their music is similar to that of bands such as Paramore and The Almost If you enjoy music from these bands, you will probably love Anberlin.

Overall, I am delighted about this album. The songs are all well-written with interesting and meaningful lyrics. This cannot be said for most popular music today.

For more music reviews, check out the Sept. 15 article, Brandon Flowers succeeds in solo album.

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