Anberlin Band • Page 216

Says hello to the new worst song champion.

 

"do do do do do do" > "slowly enter the Vega era now"

 

Not even the weakest on Blueprints honestly.

 

Linkin Park single has me thinking again about how I think female singer would've been a better fit here as well.

Naturally distances itself from the old material, and doesn't invite the 1:1 comparisons this stretch has been saddled with, plus I think the softness of Stephen's vocal work is one of the defining features of the band that might've been preserved better. (Though other male vocalists could've preserved this, too.)

 

Just let Christie Dupree give it a shot

 

Yeah I couldn't help but draw the comparison as well. The new Linkin Park vocalist is really working for me not simply because she's a female, though, but more because she can match Chester's style really well and while also giving it some new color. Unlike with Matty, it's not totally different from what fans have known the band to be.

 

at least Marty isn't a scientologist and rape apologist

 

Yeah, Matty is a lot of things, but from an accountability standpoint, I don't think there's a huge issue. I think he might've done some slut shaming stuff with MMF back in the day, which is still super ick.

As far as the LP comparison, I do think they have an easier time since you still have Mike as the backbone, and Emily can ease into it, at least in theory.

 

iirc, the only huge dirt i could find on Matty was some immaturity and slut-shaming during his 20s/the early days of MMF, some sort of beef with Issues, and a leaked phone call from that time period where he said the N word in a supposed joking manner to his manager (apparently he's apologized for all of this?)

from a musical standpoint, Emily is absolutely a better fit with LP than Matty with Anberlin.

 

He’s been recorded saying the n-word? I feel like that alone should maybe have been disqualifying from the band who sold END RACISM t-shirts a couple years ago?

 

Memphis May Fire vocalist Matty Mullins apologizes for using a racial slur

yeah, it's not a good look. then again, neither is Stephen leaning into alt-right spheres.

 

stephen's so dumb if that's true. dude was writing MLK anthems and screeds against Christian hypocrisy in the aughts lol

 

well, a new song is apparently on the way next Friday.
High Stakes

 

Who sings on it?

 

More stakes, less hopes, could it be destined for a late stage campaign cringe video.

 

Cool art............................................

 

doubtful it's Stephen

 

They should have just broken up or went on indefinite hiatus.

 

i could be wrong and perhaps Stephen is on it instead (God, i hope he is), but given their prior comments about Matty-led material coming faster than Stephen-led material, that's my current suspicion.

update: the band tagged Matty only in the IG post announcing it......... fanfuckingtastic

 

It’s incredible how Anberlin had kind of taken residence in my top 5 fav bands to me not even wanting new material now.

 

yeah the way joey and christian have talked about the situation on recent podcasts, it seems like matty is the new singer period.

 

wE’ll liVE foReVEr

 

As an interested and casual fan it’s cool they are already releasing new music so soon after the album release. Im a massive blink fan and was heavily invested in the Skilba era. IMO it’s fun to see a band do the front man switch up without all the stakes. I liked the first matty single and thought it was a mistake to not do a whole ep with matty stuff before dropping vega. Also they NEED to do a dual vocals song.

 

lots of skepticism at this point if that's the case re: Stephen. i held out hope that this was a temporary arrangement, that Stephen would still release new music with the band (like they've indicated over and over), and that if Matty was recording with them, it would be sparingly. part of me wants to hope that's still the case, but the less clarity they give people other than "we're gonna do what feels right in the moment", the more concerned i get. we all want more Stephen on recorded songs, and if that's still happening, let us know and i'll be partially-satisfied. but the less and less they market this band as a six-piece (and the fact that unlike the two new songs on Vega, there's no live versions of this new single to give people some notion of the sound of this upcoming song), the more cautious i am. and that's the infuriating thing about this situation because i don't want to be skeptical about a band whose pre-2024 track record has been consistently great, but if the quality and sound of their new material is gonna vary (Seven was alright imo, Walk Alone was meh), i feel like i have no choice. if anything can "feel right in the moment" and "there's no rule book", then there's nothing to assuage worries that we won't get a regular amount of high-quality, primarily Stephen-led material.

 

idk, it's still a shit hand to be dealt. bare minimum, maybe wait more than 2 months after your last "album" was released to start teasing more new music. maybe i'd feel differently.