Citizen: Young, Hungry, Eager
Evolution is a cornerstone of music and creativity. Whether it’s sonic evolution, visual evolution, or lyrical evolution – you can’t stay making the same thing over and over. While many will do this over the course of multiple albums, CITIZEN are a group who have become renowned for being unexpected with each record they release. Always looking to mix up their process, CITIZEN are unafraid to push their own boundaries, and any fears of isolating fans who prefer a certain sound are quickly overcome by a faith in new ones discovering the group.
“It really does wipe away that pressure because we know that every time there’s going to be a handful of people that are maybe confused or mourning the loss of a certain sound, there’s going to be however many more people that are maybe listening to CITIZEN for the first time. I think that we’ve found that our albums have groups of fans, and that’s kind of an interesting thing,” offers guitarist Nick Hamm on the mater. “I kind of like that each album plays its own role and is almost like its own band.” This level of confidence is certainly something they have earned over the course of their career, preparing to release their fifth record Calling The Dogs.
“Whatever comes naturally feels the best, right? That’s what makes us the most happy. We are ready to accept whatever response is given to us,” adds vocalist Mat Kerekes regarding this freedom they create with. They are a group who have been lauded for this dynamism in their sound, with terms ranging from shoegaze, post hardcore, grunge and emo being thrown at them, but rarely influencing what they will make next.
There does seem to be an air of youthfulness to this album for the pair, a simplification of their song writing process, returning to “rocking and writing a song” as Kerekes jovially describes. “I guess this was more of a return to form. The last record, most of the songs were written with the rhythm section first, not that that’s ground-breaking or anything it’s just new for us, and we always try to mix it up. This record was written with guitar and vocals for the most part.” He adds “[we would] focus on the song before we focused on the frills of the song. It feels good to not have to worry about producing a song, and it feels good to just write a song,” he continues. “It’s just such a different and more natural process, where you’re just jamming with your guitar and singing. Its less stressful on the brain.”
As an album, it is arguably CITIZEN’s most dynamic and diverse record to date, emblematic by the two singles that have been released If You’re Lonely and Hyper Trophy. The former leans on their more indie rock influences and the latter being more hard hitting with driving drums and more aggressive vocal performance. This dynamism is rife on the album, with some of their most punk tracks to date including one of the fastest tracks they’ve written in When I Let You Down, whereas more experimental track Options is laid back and production led.
In addition to the broad dynamism of the record, it also features some of the most in your face lyrics from Kerekes to date. “I think on this album, a lot of things are very direct and less cryptic. CITIZEN lyrics have been very cryptic in the past where you don’t really know what I’m saying, and that’s intentional. I think this album comes across as more emotional because of the direct nature of the lyrics. Its less poetic and more realised and in your face.”
He admits it wasn’t necessarily a conscious decision, but as with the rest of the album, it was all based on what felt instinctive to the songs. “It just naturally happened, I never sit down and write with much intention, it’s just kind of like whatever comes out, comes out, and hopefully its good. I’ve found with writing music, not thinking too much is always the best, whatever comes naturally. The songs that I’ve written that I’ve thought way too much about are always peoples’ least favourite songs, and I think there is something to that.”
Quite aptly leading up to a new, rejuvenating record, the group have recently completed a sold-out US tour to commemorate the 10th anniversary of what has become a cult classic album for CITIZEN in 2013’s Youth. Where some groups debut work sometimes fall by the wayside as their portfolio grows, this cannot be said for Youth, which has seemingly snowballed in tandem with the outfit.
“I would say this every night when we played, but I think it’s easy to sort of forget that when the album came out, this wasn’t the level of success it was at [with] big sold out shows and everything like that. It was just, at the time, another album,” Hamm reflects. “It’s very interesting to see how time has been pretty kind to Youth, and it seems like it gets bigger every year and that’s amazing. It’s very nice that it wasn’t just an immediate seen classic and we had to make that sustain for ten years, it’s just gotten bigger and bigger as the years have gone on. In that way, it feels better, and it feels like it can keep growing, so it doesn’t feel like it’s been a decade, it feels like this journey that we’re still on.”
A decade and soon to be four albums since Youth’s release, CITIZEN show little sign of stopping, with latest effort Calling The Dogs set to please fans of all their previous efforts and those yet to discover the outfit with its diverse offering of rocking song writing. CITIZEN will return to UK and European shores with a headline tour in February 2024 with what are certain to be some unmissable shows.
Calling The Dogs is out now via Run For Cover Records.
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