ALBUM REVIEW: Life In Your Glass World – Citizen

As CITIZEN‘s trawl through Indie Rock soundscapes continues to stretch – their melancholic narrative has stood firm. Following on from 2017’s As You Please, new record Life In Your Glass World, bravely, looks inward during its depiction of modern failure. Whereas the bands 2017 effort As You Please took shots at its surrounding environment, here CITIZEN aim their triggers mostly at the perpetrators of life’s ills. Even if that means the three piece themselves get put in the crosshairs.

It’s this introspective trait of Life In Your Glass World that sinks the records teeth in. Vocalist Mat Kerekes is open about his lack of motivation on album opener Death Dance Approximately. As he croons out “I sat around today with nothing but a pen and a blank page” you can relate to the concept of self-indulgence. The following I Want To Kill You is no less direct, dictating the perils of loneliness with a CAN’T SWIM like bounce.

The desperation in love narrative that swamps Thin Air is tried and tested. But such is the character infused in bassist Erik Hamm‘s steel fingered plucks, and Kerekes‘s aching groans – that it’s a real highlight. And just like every other outing from CITIZEN‘s back catalogue – Life In Your Glass World is nothing if not a deviation from the norm.

You’ve heard the indie party, clean string attack of Black And Red before, but the acoustic shoe-gazing of Glass World takes you on a sharp left turn. Kerekes‘s isolated, echoed vocals sit well on top of Nick Hamm‘s gloomy string manipulation. Kerekes once again confronts his own reflection when he beautifully warbles “If life in your glass world makes you feel so alone, then why don’t you say so?“.

Winter Buds pitches itself as a like-for-like successor to Glass World, and it is until Hamm‘s sweeping electric solo leaps to prominence. CITIZEN govern Life In Your Glass World with a morose grip. And though its miserable realism might be overbearing for some – the record’s highest moments of power are when it lets pessimism rule the room. Even the KAIZER CHIEFS lead Call Your Bluff takes moments to diverge from its high tempo charge for moments of sorrow.

Life In Your Glass World is fogged in clouds of doom and gloom for the majority of its 38 minute run time. As such, some will feel ostracised by the picture it decorates. Most will see the record as a virtual soundboard though, echoing their fears of commitment – and the eventual deprivation it can bring with it. Though occasionally passable – at full gear Life In Your Glass World competes with anything happening in indie rock right now.

Rating: 7/10

Life In Your Glass World is set for release March 26th via Run For Cover Records. 

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