Anberlin release 'CURRENCY', their first full album with Matty Mullins on vocals

Anberlin have released 'CURRENCY', the first full-length the band has recorded with Memphis May Fire vocalist Matty Mullins fronting the group. The lineup change reshapes their sound, pushing the record toward a brighter, faster pop punk feel that sits closer to their earliest work than to anything they have put out over the last two decades.

The handover has been gradual. After 2024's 'Vega', original singer Stephen Christian stepped back. Mullins had already appeared on two songs from that album, and then took over vocal duties on 'Nevertake', a project in which the band essentially re-recorded their own hits with him. 'CURRENCY' is the next stage of that transition.

Songs like 'Neverafter' and 'Aftermath' still carry the layered melodies and weight long associated with Anberlin, but they arrive with a lightness drawn from pop punk. The album also leans heavier in places: 'Relapse' and 'Medicate' feature riffs the band had not explored in years, 'Gravity' runs a guitar solo straight into a large breakdown, and 'Lies' builds on snapping, aggressive drums with a metal-adjacent edge. 'Relapse' adds synth-like pulsing, while 'Displace' and 'Ghost' go fully into pop punk territory.

Mullins is at his strongest on the rapid-fire delivery of 'Highstakes' and the layered chorus of 'Medicate', though the lyrics lean on broader emotional phrasing rather than the wordplay of the band's earlier catalogue. On the stripped-back 'Trenches', the arrangement leaves less room to hide.

Anberlin announced their farewell in 2014 after seven albums and a goodbye show, but never truly split. They returned with the 'Silverline' EP in 2022 and have stayed active since. 'CURRENCY' is the clearest statement yet of where the band stands in this new configuration.