As a dad I'm sure that's half right but also as a dad, I would miss my family so much touring, so I imagine it's taken a toll on him. More specifically he says "his career" which is his church duties
I recall it being something like a tax-related reason? They haven't been back since 2014 and they did address somewhere once upon a time.
I had no idea about this. Didn’t realize it had been so long. Guess one of Stephen’s final shows won’t be near me after all lol
finally gathered my thoughts on this. i can only take Matty in small, particular doses, and more often than not, i haven't liked much of what i've heard. that's not to say he couldn't pull off an Anberlin song, i've just never heard him sing those tracks. if he can pull it off, then sure, fine. i will say despite how much i love Anberlin, their live show primarily seems like a nostalgia act from what i've seen of their setlists (a ton of hits, NTFP, and Cities), and i definitely prefer their later material, so it's not something i'm raving to see. i have two other thoughts here: 1. even though Stephen is staying on vocals in a recorded capacity, i wonder if this opens up the door for the band featuring Matty on a track or two. that at least gives him more of a role than just only singing Stephen's vocals live. 2. i think we've all had plenty of discussions about Stephen as a person, and i've recently been of the mind that if any member left (despite how core to the band's identity he is), i wouldn't be upset if it was Stephen. that being said, unless i'm wrong, isn't Matty Mullins immersed in that same religious/sociopolitical sphere?
terrible font regardless, lmao. if you're gonna do the Sunbather font, go all the way and remove the ultra thin parts of the letters.
their IG comments are now suggesting that new songs will have Stephen and Matty, and Stephen might not sit out all live shows
My biggest concern is honestly just how distinct Stephen's voice is. He has one of those voices where I know exactly who it is the second he starts singing. I don't have strong negative feelings about Matty or his voice, though I don't listen to any of his bands, but his voice doesn't have that super unique factor that I think helps elevate Anberlin so much. I enjoyed the dual vocalist approach on Lacerate but I don't know that I'd be a fan of that being the norm. Basically, I hope Stephen remains at the forefront of albums. I hope the tours succeed so the band can keep going. But there's a lot of ways I could see this making me not a fan of the band's music moving forward.
Feel like there are some of us this in thread who have no idea what’s going on and another group of people who are talking about it as if we all know lol has Stephen come out and said he’s taking a step back? If not for the comments suggesting such I’d have assumed that was a fake out on the band’s part with how matter of factory they say it.