Modern rock band Anberlin is set to release a deluxe edition of their album New Surrender on December 15th. The album will contain a DVD and six bonus tracks. According to guitarist Christian McAlhaney the six tracks include all of Anberlin's b-sides. “If you bought your album New Surrender at Walmart there was an extra song, if you bought it at Best Buy there was another one, we had retailer specific versions,” McAlhaney said.

Now all the b-sides are together in one place, along with the group's smash hit “Feel Good Drag,” and extra goodies including footage of the band on tour in Australia and Europe. Additionally, the album will include the group's recently released cover of New Order's song “True Faith.” McAlhaney says their label suggested they do a cover and New Order ended up being a perfect fit. “Amberlin's always been a big fan of 80s bands. We've done other 80s covers so we decided to stick with that genre.” (80s covers by Anberlin include Depeche Mode's “Enjoy the Silence” and “Love Song” by The Cure.)

The group has plans for a follow up to New Surrender in 2010. “We'll probably go in the studio spring of next year and try to get another recording by the end of the year,” McAlhaney said. The record is a top priority for the group, to such an extent the band has even started trying to write for the album while still on the road. According to McAlhaney, “It's tough because there are weird schedules and weird places every day.” When writing, music as well as input comes from every member of the band, but it is usually Stephen Christian who writes the lyrics and melodies for the songs.

McAlhaney seems to be looking forward to working on Anberlin's next album because the group plans to take things in a different direction musically. “New Surrender was pretty poppy. I think there were more upbeat songs and if you listen to our other stuff it's usually not the case. We talked about for this next record not being as poppy,” McAlhaney said. The group is currently working on a creating a darker, less pop-oriented sound for their next album. “Lyrics have a lot to do with that but even musically when you write a song you know if it's real major happy chords instead of dark minor chords....you know if you're an artist or a painter you can kind of choose, today I'm going to paint a slightly darker picture.”
Look for the deluxe edition of New Surrender in stores December 15th, and some time next year, fans everywhere can expect another Anberlin album but this time with a slightly darker feel to the music.