Album Review :
Anchor & Braille - Songs for the Late Night Drive Home

By in Reviews | 7 Comments

Anchor and Braille - Songs for the Late Night Drive Home

Label: Tooth & Nail
Release Date: February 5, 2016

Tracklisting:

  1. Watch You Burn
  2. Detroit Slab
  3. Lower East Side
  4. Fatal Flaw
  5. Nightfall
  6. Keep Dancin’
  7. Live Fast. Die Young.
  8. Chances
  9. Summer
  10. Still Looking

Even the title of Anchor & Braille’s latest release conjures powerful emotions. Driving at night is certainly a mixed bag of emotions, but I’ve seen my fair share of it. Whether it’s driving through hours of open country fields or through a busy city at five in the morning, there’s a nature inclination to be pensive and introspective. While it’s sometimes good to throw on something with a bit more energy to stay awake, the natural setting is dark, moody, quiet, and empty.

Characteristically, Stephen Christian manages to capture this mood to some degree. Detroit Slab is saturated in Depeche Mode influence; sonic allusions to dances in high school gymnasiums accent the retro feel of Fatal Flaw; Live Fast. Die Young. constructs a mental image of driving through Miami as the sun sets.

Songs for the Late Night Drive Home is an eclectic mix of styles: electro-pop, R&B, chillwave, and hip-hop influences are all present to varying degrees. The variety is interesting, but the album is, for the most part, fairly slow. Like a number of other artists, Christian has chosen to incorporate his fair share of the signature 80’s pop sound here, and he does this well.

Ultimately, the album does live up to its title: it is urban, moody, slow, and atmospheric. However, this is not always inviting – at times, the album seems to pass by slower than a late-night drive home. Anberlin fans have come to expect a lot from Stephen Christian, but I don’t think this is the answer they’ve been looking for. There’s not much to hate here, but there’s also not too much to love. Standout tracks like Watch You Burn quickly lose their unique flavor to a continuous steam of analog synths that span the entire album. There’s pop influence, but it’s certainly not bound for the Top 40 charts. It rests in some awkward niche that certainly has its audience, but I would argue that audience does not consist of a majority of Tooth & Nail fans.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

7 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
John Amos
Guest
John Amos
March 19, 2017 5:35 pm

Anchor & Braille’s best album, in my opinion. On a related note, Stephen Christian recently posted an image on his Instagram hinting at his solo (worship?) album.

Zac Zinn
Member
March 21, 2017 2:23 pm
Reply to  John Amos

The worship album has been in the works for a long time. Unfortunately it didn’t look like it was going to happen due to contracts falling through.
I believe Stephen talked about it on a Bad Christian podcast episode.
But if it looks like it’s happening, that’s great

Zac Zinn
Member
March 18, 2017 5:53 am

I’m a big fan of this album and for me, the title fully delivers on its intention

Benji Kunz
Member
March 22, 2017 9:30 am

I think this is better than Felt, but not quite as good as The Quiet Life. But it is excellent for the occasion it was made for (driving late at night) and “Lower East Side,” “Keep Dancin’,” and especially “Nightfall” are three of the best songs Stephen Christian has ever written IMO. 🙂

Anthony
Guest
Anthony
April 3, 2017 9:51 pm

Great album. Definitely better than a 3/5.

Phil metalhed
Guest
March 19, 2017 5:32 am

Talk about a delayd review, lol. I agree wit “Zac Zinn”. Its an easy 4/ 5 in my book.

Zac Zinn
Member
March 21, 2017 2:24 pm
Reply to  Phil metalhed

Hey Phil! Long time no see

7
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x
%d