Album Review: Citizen – Halcyon Blues

For a band who have always been able to reshape their sound and move in a slightly different direction with each new release, this latest Citizen album feels like everything that’s come before has directly contributed in some manner. From their more intense and raw early music, to the huge hooks of recent releases, everything has been brought together here for 11 tracks concerning the intrinsic uncertainty of life and change, to fantastic effect.

The energetic drum fill that kicks off opener Good Fortune belies the melancholy tone that fills the belly of Halcyon Blues, but even with the massive emotions of I Can See You From Here and the title track, it’s impossible to lose touch with the intensely catchy core of each song present.

Is It In My Brain is as ready to be sung at 3am on a cold walk home as it is to be danced to with pure abandon, and yet even this can’t fully prepare the stage for the gorgeous ballad Always the Last One To Leave. Either Way follows in a similar vein as a tangibly sorrowful piece of music, before Matador introduces a harder sound built upon catharsis and resentment in equal measure, that’s reminiscent of sweaty basements and dive bar punk shows amongst the sadness.

Highs and Lows rides the winds into the stratosphere of alt.rock heft, propelled by powerful yet restrained drums and buoyed aloft further by the synth strings upholding the melody. Mat Kerekes’ soaring vocals add the cherry on top, putting another fantastic notch in the belt of this brilliant band. Capped off by the softer but no less vulnerable Anne, the band manage to capture an additional facet of worry and nervousness with every new step here.

A mournful atmosphere of bittersweet uncertainty has permeated the core of this more nuanced set of tracks. Even with nostalgia burning through the bloodstream, it’s a resoundingly modern Citizen that we find accepting that change has to happen, and - certainly in the case of Halcyon Blues - that might just be for the best.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Movements, Turnover, Basement

Halcyon Blues is released on August 7th via Run For Cover.