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As You Please

by Citizen

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1.
Jet 03:43
we are moving slow deep into the night, hereafter falls i am keeping close to nothing let the mallet swing through the fire i see your face staring back at me you know i turn to you for self abusing all of our ears to the floorboards my eyes are falling everywhere i know who is in the backyard but who’s that living in our home we are moving slow i am a pawn in every step you take illusion wraps me up, keeps me guessing you put my back to the wall somehow that wasn’t enough I’m the result of what you never were all of our ears to the floorboards my eyes are falling everywhere i know who is in the backyard but who’s that living in our home  all of our ears to the floorboards there's nothing left for anyone i know who is in the backyard but who’s that living in our home  if I’m in vain then you must be too are we on our way back down? into delusion we will go to stare at a glimpse of hope make me more assured, clean my wounds my flickering thoughts; all wrong into delusion we will go to stare at a glimpse of hope all of our ears to the floorboards my eyes are falling everywhere i know who is in the backyard but who’s that living in our home  all of our ears to the floorboards we peel them back forevermore i know who is in the backyard but who’s that living in our home
2.
…and in the middle of it all I saw you there Fellow dies with no one there to care for him Wondered what the world is like outside his room he’s living in A normal man that dressed himself in women’s threads He remembered every word, her face, her body in the shade Sorrow; the unpredictable has found a hand to hold Absent into the fog coming home Maelstrom; you are my only god Absent into the fog, I succumb to your every want She’s the one that everybody marvels at Delicate with her voice and flowers strung across her head She’s the one that everybody notices She thinks about an older friend, his face, his body in her bed Sorrow; the unrequited lust that follows everyone Absent into the fog coming home Maelstrom; my undecided trust Absent into the fog, I succumb to your every want I wasn’t ready for this Been strung out looking for a signal that was never there I wasn’t ready for this Suspicion reaching down to touch my fingertips again Sorrow; the celebration halts, the blinding lights are gone Absent into the fog coming home Maelstrom; my love for you is strong Absent into the fog, I succumb to your every want
3.
Well-formed In tone your everything Winsome through the void Resound my everything Surround all of me, you don't need anything In the barest form, I'll lead you there Reach out for anything Reach out for me when you're lost Come as you please, as you want I'm needing something to fill in the void Come as you please, just as you thought I don't remember you this black and white Tend to me, make me your everything Caught in the midst of the flood Your reflection in rainfall when I don't remember anything at all Drown in my veins and I am yours forever
4.
Medicine 04:12
How many lights can you count? Ethereal to your memory How many dives into the water until you're feeling clean? Have you waited long enough? Through me I've become wishful The people dance around the riverbank The way they stare reminds you to bleed Through me I've become simple The shadows crowd around to tell you that the heaven you live for is nothing How many voices are around that drown your own melody? A family for hire, we are never where we thought we would be Have you waited long enough? Swallow a pill for your loss Have you waited long enough? Medicine pulls me from your love Have you waited long enough? Through me I've become wishful The people dance around the riverbank The way they stare reminds you to bleed Through me I've become simple The shadows crowd around to tell you that the heaven you live for is nothing
5.
Ugly Luck 03:59
The choir aches, the trumpets sting our hearts Expected fate of everything, we need to know the source The flesh is aged, we shudder with every budge If I remain then lead me in We live through written words I am vague to you; a fly on the wall Your stardust in the whisk - the lonesome dawn I am a trick to you; a deserted thought Adrift in the mist - ugly luck Violent shakes; if I’m caught then I’m done The sirens rang, the masses fled There’s nothing left for us The choir aches, we need to know the source If I remain then lead me in We live through extinct words Our words I am vague to you; a fly on the wall Your stardust in the whisk - the lonesome dawn I am a trick to you; a desolate howl Absence of the wish - too far gone I am vague to you; a fly on the wall Your stardust in the whisk - the lonesome dawn I am a trick to you; an exhausted want I don’t know where you’ve been or where you are
6.
World 03:44
There is something falling from your fingertips For every moment that you've seen, there's one you've missed Are you alright? Are you still feeling dead? I turned out the lights around, there's no difference I hear every word, these walls are paper thin In every person that you meet, they all need fixed Do you wonder? Are you still feeling dead? If I turned down this radio, I'd hear nothing Do you wonder? I have had your ears, a younger me loves it I haven't been around this neighborhood in a few years Do you feel good? Do you notice it? There's a crowd in front of me, I just don't care I hear a thousand people sing, I feel nothing Do you wonder? Won't you split me open? Let me air out I'm your old friend There's a dull effort, purpose that you long for There's a withered heart, something I can't ignore Tangled in a string and then you're cut to the bone All abandoning, you're a cancer that won't There's a dawning heel, your first time at the core There's a withered heart, something I can't ignore I wiped this window clean, still can't see in If I tuned out these people here, I'd hear the wind If I force fed you this pill, would you notice? If I tuned out your world for good, you'd have nothing
7.
Fever Days 03:34
Fever days are here Blackout memory encompassing Glamor casts a light on what is secret Limited to none on this sterile ground we walk You remind me of something I’ve lost I can’t give anything I am only a fleeting thought  Room of many bodies, still no one that I could talk to A million faces here, but I can only pick out a few Through the photographs, joy encircling I found you down by the waterfront Victim of underhand, so subordinate All of your time is the only thing you've got I'm a slave to odds, giving everything I've got You remind me of something I'm not I can feel you breathing into me Our existence separates  I can feel you now, near and hollowed out Our existence separates
8.
Control 03:56
Thinning airflow through a narrow hallway Hanging heads from the billboards, hoping to entertain I hear the circle resonate You're all nameless faces to me I'm merely a short daydream I helped you get through nothing If you look real close hands held under the thorns keep you proud of the unknown I'm your toy when things get shallow I'm under your control Press your face to wood floor, you're the grain Here's a savior for when you don't feel anything I am what you want me to be Ripped right out in front of me I was on the edge of your everything Now something gets in the way Innocence sedates your memory The misbelief in anything  I see you on every city street Looking for me to fix your pain If you look real close hands held under the thorns keep you proud of the unknown I'm your toy when things get shallow It swallows everyone You don't hold enough to show anything for what you've done I'm your toy when things get shallow I'm under your control I've wished for this Well my attention comes and goes ever since I've dreamt of this Well it is never clean behind the film we're staring at
9.
Transient soul You utter my hymn from under your breath Abandoned one You’ve learned to forgive but I have not yet He’s fooled everyone Now, where does he go? Volatile scene A crack in the sky; peeking inside Discreet routine The timing is not right
10.
Head full of ketamine Throw yourself into your hole Bite into the flesh that controls you Supernal mind sings the universal fault Tear into the heads that cried for you too soon Hollow I forgive no one for anything Feet in the concrete, a seasoned undertone In every fabrication, there's always truth Obscure reality, the condescending soul Spit into the mouths that spoke for you too soon Hollow I forgive no one for anything Hollow I forgive no one for what can change Hollow I forgive no one for anything Hollow I forgive for none You're something I can't dig into You're something I can't sink my hands in too much It's best you have too much to lose It's best that everything is too far to touch Reason is prison to you, resolution you ridicule Hollow I forgive no one for anything Hollow I forgive no one for what can change Hollow I forgive no one for anything Hollow I forgive for none
11.
Yesterday the storm came and it stayed Fingerprints smeared across the screen Sail through the supernova in the way I am submissive, staring at your face Evangelist thinks he knows the score Has never been but talks like he has before I heard the music ring out through the air Never around long enough for the answer Don’t let me down You are a star, quiet in the airglow A second to spare; a life as a phantom I saw the heavens open up for me Where does the music go after today? Fragile will, here comes another one We are blind staring into the sun I know I am no better than you are, but you are the last to go Don’t let me down We have been called by name I saw the heavens open up
12.
Flowerchild 04:36
I fell into your forbidden arms Beautiful flower child I am nothing but an echo through your halls Won't you just stay here for longer? I've given all to what is left of you I don't know where I went wrong Lately do you feel better when I'm gone? I made a mess of myself again I know it's all my fault I've been whatever you wanted It's such a shame that still no one likes looking up when they are lost Threading the skin I am at fault for you Keeping me in Faith in an empty room Something I've missed in everyone but you Keeping me in Faith in an empty room Innocent pawn, goddess of my thoughts As the world turned, we stood far apart Flower child is stuck in her condition As the world turned, we had fallen apart I am wrapped up in momentary touch I'm feeling so worn down I have tried but I know that's not enough Threading the skin I am at fault for you Keeping me in Faith in an empty room Thousands of bricks, I carried them all for you Keeping me in Faith in an empty room

about

Citizen’s As You Please reports from ground zero of an epidemic. Two years removed from their previous Run For Cover LP, Everybody Is Going To Heaven, Citizen’s perspective is far less sublime. As You Please is a confrontational record, incapable of turning a blind eye toward the inescapable strife. And so, songwriter Mat Kerekes pursues the source of discontent that is ravaging his Rust Belt city of Toledo, Ohio with the band’s most dynamic record to date.

On As You Please the epidemic is bigger than addiction and overdoses. There is no longer a Dream to be pursued for the friends and family surrounding Citizen. The band explores that absence and the misguided ways in which it gets filled. On opener “Jet” the kids move slow and there’s a stranger living in the narrator’s home. “In The Middle Of It All” might be Citizen at their most hopeful, but it also reads as agonizing expression of the ruin in the Heartland.

As You Please also showcases the growing versatility of a band seven years deep and still restless. Citizen has churned and ground out their own unique foothold within the greater context of alternative rock. Written over the course of a year, the record is devoid of the brutish and sinister elements found on Everybody Is Going To Heaven. Here, Citizen go beyond their early grunge contrasts and strive for something benevolent.

There’s a spiritual core to the record that manifests in subtle ways like the ethereal vocals echoing in the breakdown of “Control,” the droning organs on “You Are A Star” or the almost operatic refrain on “In The Middle Of It All.” The finespun ways in which Citizen has written this record mark a cataclysmic breakthrough for the band. There is damage and disarray in the band member’s lives, but within this record all the pieces have been restored in an ornate arrangement befitting a stained glass mosaic.

In the end, As You Please tries to give strength to those in need. There are illicit factors that control, but Citizen has written a guiding light of an album out of the debris. It concludes with “You Are A Star” and “Flowerchild;” one an unstable request of confidence set to soaring progressions, the other a blistering finale that subverts expectation. As You Please might read as meek, but it represents Citizen in its most confident and expansive state.

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released October 6, 2017

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