A full three years have eclipsed since Stephen Christian announced that he was stepping away from Anberlin. In the time between now and then, Memphis May Fire's Matty Mullins has filled in as the lead vocalist, the band repackaged the Silverline and Convinced EPs in the form of full-length Vega (which included two new songs featuring Mullins), they rerecorded their entire Never Take Friendship Personal album and "Ready Fuels" with Mullins handling the vocals, and the five piece has spent time on the road touring with the new lineup. While Mullins has had his hand in plenty of what Anberlin has done these past few years, only now with CURRENCY do we see behind the curtain as to what an album of all-new material looks like with him as the frontman.

I should make the key point off the bat that those assuming CURRENCY will sound just like the Anberlin of old will need to adjust their expectations. To be clear, Anberlin has not become Memphis May Fire--Matty keeps his metalcore side at bay here--but Mullins still brings his particular style and voice to the table. One would struggle to imagine Stephen singing a song like "MEDICATE," for example. Thankfully, this authentic version of Mullins in Anberlin works much better and feels much more natural than when he sings on Nevertake; he influences the creative direction of the project for the betterment of it, rather than it coming across like a slightly amiss cover album.

The differences begin off the bat with "NEVERAFTER." The song is one of this reviewer's favorites, but it opens in a slightly tamer fashion than the immediate blazing high energy of songs like "Godspeed" or "The Resistance" from earlier albums. While the tempo remains high and the energy is not all gone, "NEVERAFTER" eases the listener into the record more than some of Anberlin's previous openers. "GRAVITY," the album's most aggressive track and another highlight, picks up the pace a bit, however. Apart from boasting the record's best guitar solo, "GRAVITY" calls attention to the challenge of life's finite nature: "The fear of what I'll leave behind / Holds me hostage in my mind / When this gravity is all that's left of me."

Conceptually, CURRENCY presses into the mental battles that humans face. A song like "GHOST" focuses on how we can be our own worst critic, and not necessarily always for the best. Beautifully embodying that inner frustration through his voice, Mullins sings, "Tryin' to prove that I'm worth it / Always face it alone / Like I choose to deserve this / Why do I hate myself? / Guess I'm perfectly worthless / And nobody cuts me deeper than I cut myself." The words pull no punches, but the raw honesty of tracks like this and "MEDICATE" ("Royalty within the wreckage / And heavy lies the crown / All my wounds wrapped up in velvet / So no one sees me drown / Weighed down / Pull me out") stands out as one of CURRENCY's strong suits.

The one guest feature comes on "TRENCHES," when Jon Foreman of Switchfoot joins in on the vocals. A slow and poppy tune, the track almost could--and perhaps should--fit on mainstream Christian radio, but even as someone who often looks past that sector of Christian music, this reviewer enjoys what Anberlin and Foreman have put together. Mullins and Foreman take an even split of the vocal duties, and they sing about a true and deep friendship, with one friend helping the other through a difficult time by walking alongside them: "We can cry, we can both break down / We can scream til our lungs give out / ... / I can lift you up / If you feel defenseless / And when you're fighting for your life / I will meet you in the trenches." The touching offering provides some levity and hope following the emotionally heavy "GHOST" and "MEDICATE," serving as a peak moment for the album at its midpoint.

While the back half of the album remains steady, it contains less noteworthy material compared to what the first six tracks of CURRENCY offer. To call out a few songs, the musically heavy "RELAPSE" describes returning to our vices in moments of weakness, while "LIES" calls us to leave such practices behind permanently and features Mullins screaming more than on any other song on the album.

"ASHES" closes the album and is one of the few songs I could imagine Stephen Christian singing, perhaps because the track, in its infancy, preexisted Mullins' tenure with Anberlin. Apart from sounding more like their previous material, "ASHES" also takes the grand, lengthy closing approach found on many Anberlin albums and spans over six minutes in runtime. While I appreciate the intention of holding onto the Anberlin record-closing tradition, the final minute of "ASHES" drags on too long. Even with a minute cut from the end of this song, it would still hold the title for the album's longest song by almost two minutes, and Anberlin could have preserved the original goal for a longer closer while still shortening the song. Thematically, it laments the ending of a relationship despite knowing the separation is for the best: "You knew and I know it now / That we built this foundation out of matches / And paper mache all around / ... / No more dancing around on the ashes / Of a house that we both burned down." In comparison, "TRENCHES" is a sweet song about building someone up, but the importance that "ASHES" highlights of moving on and starting something new is equally relevant at times, and this reviewer admires the way that Anberlin contrasts these facets of life by placing these two tracks at the end of their respective halves of the album.

CURRENCY feels different enough from previous Anberlin albums to where one may question whether this is an entirely different band, but those willing to accept change and appreciate the Matty Mullins-fronted Anberlin for what it is should find a quality release in CURRENCY. One curious to hear what the new lineup of a familiar band sounds like would do best to listen to the whole--and not overly long at just over 37 minutes--album, but "GRAVITY," "GHOST," "TRENCHES," and "ASHES" provide a solid sampling of what the record contains.

- Review date: 11/8/26, written by Noah Schmidt of Jesusfreakhideout.com