Life In Your Glass World

by Citizen

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ilistentoemo You can't pick a favorite track. AOTY 2021. Favorite track: Pedestal.

ciudadanocomun This album save me during the quarantine Favorite track: I Want to Kill You.

jack mesenbourg This band plays tight and brings a distinct style to the recording. This is some combination of emo- dance and punk that is very effectively stitched together. Although you can hear the various influences throughout, they blend them together well and make their own sound from those disparate pieces. Favorite track: Glass World.

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Limited to 1000 copies.

Please note that this item is a pre-order estimated to ship in early November.

Includes unlimited streaming of Life In Your Glass World via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Released by Run For Cover Records.

Includes unlimited streaming of Life In Your Glass World via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Limited Edition LP - Cloudy Sky Blue Swirl
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Released by Run For Cover Records. Limited to 1000 Copies.

Includes unlimited streaming of Life In Your Glass World via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Limited Edition LP - Blue & Green Galaxy
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Released by Run For Cover Records

Includes unlimited streaming of Life In Your Glass World via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.	Death Dance Approximately 04:07	lyrics
One slip of the tongue Razor sharp, but never let it show It’s like you need me enough to never let me go I didn’t want anything I’ll look you straight into the eyes and say “This is the last time I’ll ever give you another piece of me” It comes for us all  I’ve got this aching that’s taken over Every day it keeps on getting a little worse I beat myself down until I cave in I will pry and I will claw just to be heard I sat around till late With nothing but a pen and a blank page With nothing but the minutes pounding on me The clean slate is just a moment of peace I don’t want anything I don’t want to go outside today I don’t want to talk to anybody I don’t care to hear about your day It comes for us all  I’ve got this aching that’s taken over Every day it keeps on getting a little worse I beat myself down until I cave in I will pry and I will claw just to be heard They took my cell phone, gave me a number Said “the only thing I want is to make you hurt” I beat myself down until I cave in I will pry and I will claw just to be heard  Barefoot through the dark What’s left for you? Cradle your glass heart Is that enough for you? I’ve got this aching that’s taken over Every day it keeps on getting a little worse I beat myself down until I cave in I will pry and I will claw just to be heard They took my cell phone, gave me a number Said “I want what I want and it’s what I deserve” I beat myself down until I cave in I will pry and I will claw just to be heard
2.	I Want to Kill You 03:12	lyrics
I’ll pick it up right where I left off Their banging their drums and they point to me I’m only alive when I need to be I’ll keep on digging up my lost cause It comes so slow but suddenly The things that make you happy They are not enough for me I’ll keep it coming if you want some more I’ll keep on running but it gets so tiring And when there is nothing left to write down Oh, will you come running when I get too tired? In the bright red sky I saw a pain that I clung to once before But I never want to go there anymore And in my bright blue eyes I know I’m looking for something to calm my nerves The clock is a knife and I wait my turn and it’s just getting worse I’ll keep it coming if you want some more I’ll keep on running but it gets so tiring And when all the water fills my lungs up Oh, will you come running when I get too tired?  I just want to play god for myself I just want war and nothing else  I’ll keep it coming if you want some more I’ll keep on running but it gets so tiring And when I got nothing left to give you Oh, will you come running when I get too tired?
3.	Blue Sunday 03:52	lyrics
On my blue Sunday There’s nothing else that I can do I throw my troubles away Don’t do nothing I don’t want to And as your body takes shape I draw your shadow in my room I got a lot to take in and nowhere to begin She told me oh no, don’t you keep me waiting baby  Don’t want to be something if I gotta sell my wounds to you Dig up a memory I hate Get some attention when I do Now everybody knows best Only see things how they want to When papers roll in, it doesn’t have to be me But it will never be you   Kick me down, mess me up a little more than last time In the back of my head Where the devils come play Nothing better than this I’m not missing a thing And if you lay me down Just let me burn instead And if I get knocked down I don’t want to go back In the back of my head Where the devils come play Nothing better than this I’m not missing a thing In the house that I live Where I spend all my days Nothing better than this I don’t miss anything
4.	Thin Air 03:03	lyrics
In my empty head I like to say your name when you’re not here I feel it tighten in my chest as I pull you out of thin air I remember when you used to say that it’s time that complicates you I remember it like it was yesterday Fill me in on all of your secrets Tell me what you’re thinking Dig my wishing well I throw a nickel down into it again Takes me back to when I first looked down and saw myself I still see you in most everything I sing my blues away Your words spill out like poetry The way it goes is the same for you and me Said I’d meet you in the morning But I don’t have the energy  Give me something real If only for the thrill  When it all falls down There you are No need to wonder I used to know you better than anyone  I heard my voice through the open door Singing my slow songs for whoever But I don’t want to no more Give me something real If only for the thrill
5.	Call Your Bluff 03:25	lyrics
Hey, my friend I know you’re keeping a lot of secrets We’ve got some things to talk about What I see in you, I see in myself What’s that you’re thinking about? Anything I should know by now? Something that I should see for myself And I believe in you, more than anyone else Oh, I won’t call your bluff Oh, I won’t give away the things I know If you would slip under, I’d never let you go In chains you came at war with the devil that lives in your head I know what it is to hate yourself I know how it feels to want to be someone else All of the things you say Swallow the hurt, it is your poison The days are short and they move too fast The things that you tell me, I tell myself Oh, I won’t call your bluff Oh, I won’t give away the things I know If you would slip under, I’d never let you go When you feel like giving up When every day weighs heavy on your soul If you would slip under, I’d never let you go I watched you cry for help, reach out your hand And then turn your back around Everything I see in you, I see in myself Hey, my friend I know that you’ve got some trouble ahead The road was straight but it starts winding And you’re just there spinning along with it Oh, I won’t call your bluff Oh, I won’t give away the things I know If you would slip under, I’d never let you go When you feel like giving up When every day weighs heavy on your soul If you would slip under, I’d never let you go
6.	Pedestal 03:12	lyrics
I got my ready, set grip and I keep it just in case I woke up early this morning and I feel so strange Well there is something inside of me, it’s eating at my brain I’ll take some medicine for it and then I’ll be okay  I will show you my faults And then you’ll shove it in my face  I got nothing more to give, only a bitter taste Never doing what I want and only making pocket change My insecurities are heavy and hang on a string Well you can tell me what you want and you won’t get a fucking thing  I showed you my faults And then you shoved it in my face I gave you my all And then you shoved it in my face You’ve got some money put aside, it’s enough to hold your head up Everything is going fine and nothing else seems to matter You hold your pedestal high but no, nothing lasts forever Show me something that you like and I’ll write you something better I’ve got some problems you created No I never say never If you find a little time maybe you could make it better You hold your pedestal high but no, nothing lasts forever Show me something that you like and I’ll write you something better I showed you my faults And then you shoved it in my face I gave you my all And then you shoved it in my face
7.	Fight Beat 02:52	lyrics
Dead set All that I have Nothing that you would want to put into your hands No fair Saying things that I don’t want to hear Cut off your big fat head Keep it as my souvenir   Yeah, I will tell you once But I won’t tell you twice  No fair The feeling running through my veins Give it some loving Turn around then I’m back again Me first Was gonna leave but I stayed instead All of my anger is just your voice drilling in my head  Yeah, I will tell you once But I won’t tell you twice  Dead set No fair Cut off your big fat head Keep it as my souvenir Yeah, I will tell you once But I won’t tell you twice
8.	Black and Red 02:52	lyrics
You ain’t a good friend Got some dirt under your fingertips Don’t care about a thing Yeah you know what you want and that’s what you’re gonna get I make it easy to take advantage of what i give When my hands peel back your skin You should blame yourself for it I know you better than yourself Your distance tells me where your heart is There’s no coming back I only see in black and red I’m gonna get paid Yeah I’m gonna get what I put in When the air is suffocating When your shelter is no longer there When my hands are around your neck You should blame yourself for it I know you better than yourself Your distance tells me where your heart is Do you blame someone else for your darkness? I know you better than yourself When the sun escapes your grasp Sets fire to everything When my hands are around your neck You should blame yourself for it I know you better than yourself Your distance tells me where your heart is Do you blame someone else for your darkness? I know you better than yourself
9.	Glass World 03:24	lyrics
Help me understand when the long night ends And do what suits you Five years in, drained of oxygen You’ll do what suits you If life in your glass world makes you feel so alone Then why don’t you say so? Save some face in any way For you, I was a fool I’ll hold you close But when it’s time to go, I’ll move right through you If life in your glass world makes you feel so alone Then why don’t you say so? And I’ll meet you somewhere when the world turns dark and cold If you would just say so This year pressed roses from you If life in your glass world makes you feel so alone Then why don’t you say so? And I’ll meet you somewhere when the world turns dark and cold If you would just say so
10.	Winter Buds 04:08	lyrics
Through my window lies my heaven Through winter buds, dream so often In my bedroom where I grew up Kiss the carpet, dust the shelves off  Tell me what you want Tell me if I’m strong enough I’ll give you what you want I’ll give you something good and old Spend an hour on my back porch Watch me scatter, find some comfort Through my window, my world is blue Through winter buds is where I’ll find you  Tell me what you want Tell me if I’m strong enough I’ll give you what you want I’ll give you something good and old  You oughta know a bit better than me Tell me what you want Tell me if I’m strong enough If everyone is alone Then shouldn’t this be good enough?
11.	Edge of the World 03:27	lyrics
It’s a bitter cold today I stood out here for hours I was looking for an answer Took a chance, took a swing and I missed Late night and your heart hurts I gotta get myself unstuck Now it’s so much tougher than I thought it was I stand at the edge of the world Just staring out at the water I was a symbol of hope But I’ve been pushed a bit farther And though I feel undone, I got more to offer This was a big misstep Now you become a stranger I’m drawing dead today Feeling like I’m hollow There was no more to explain You stood right there right in front of me and I could see it in your face It never stops, it’s lasting so much longer than I thought it would I remember what it was like Your golden boy in flowers Every song for you and I when we felt easy, we felt alright I looked at you one last time and I knew that never again would I sing your name You took something so beautiful and covered it with sorrow I need to get my head straight I need to stand a bit taller Although I feel undone, I got so much to offer This was a big misstep Now you are just a stranger But at the end of the day, there is beauty in tragedy I hope you find what you need I hope it’s everlasting I hope you learn to love yourself

about

Citizen have always eluded definition. The Toledo, Ohio-based three-piece have been making dynamic, wide-ranging guitar music for over ten years, challenging expectations with each new album and refusing to fit neatly in a box. On their fourth full-length, Life In Your Glass World, Citizen have crafted their most singular work to date completely on their own terms—proving that only the band themselves can define their identity.

Since forming in 2009, Citizen—vocalist Mat Kerekes, guitarist Nick Hamm, and bassist Eric Hamm—have endlessly pushed themselves with each successive release, actively resisting the comfort zones that often plague bands as they grow. The band has fearlessly taken risks with their sound on each new album, and shown themselves capable of exploring impassioned post-hardcore, raw noise rock, shimmering indie pop, anthemic alternative, and more—often on the same album, and sometimes even the same track. But growth isn’t always painless, and the band has been navigating the fraught music industry from a young age—learning as they went and sometimes feeling pulled in different directions at once.

When it came time to make Life In Your Glass World, Citizen’s need to continue moving forward creatively went hand in hand with their desire to be fully in control of their creative destiny. Nick Hamm explains: “I don’t have a lot of regret but there have definitely been times when we felt powerless during the band’s existence. This time we really owned every part of the process. It’s easy to feel like you’re on autopilot when you’re in a band, but that’s not a good place to be this far into our existence. We consciously knew we wanted to break free.”

For Citizen that meant taking the entire album-making process home to Toledo (the Glass City) and creating everything in-house. Kerekes built a studio in his garage, a project that was both empowering and practical. “It’s super easy and convenient,” he says. “But I also felt like building the studio was a way to prove we don’t need anything but ourselves.” Hamm adds, “This is the first self-sufficient Citizen record. There was no pressure at all and moving at our own pace allowed the songs to be a little more fleshed out.” The looser recording process afforded the band time to focus on each song’s individual mood, making their signature blend of aggression and melody all the more pronounced, and even capturing appealing imperfections. The result is an album that represents the members’ vision in its purest form, something that feels distinctly Citizen while also marking the start of a fresh chapter.

One of the most immediately striking elements of Life In Your Glass World is the band’s attention to rhythm. Many of the songs feature undeniably danceable beats and sharply grooving guitar lines, which give both the barnburners and the brooding atmospheric tracks a pulsating heart. “When you write songs the same way for X amount of years, you start to want to try something new,” Kerekes says. “These songs were mostly built from drums and bass first, which was different for us. I’d start with a completely different beat every time to get a certain energy.” The band’s desire to assert themselves is palpable both in the music and Kerekes’ lyrics, mirroring not only their creative frustrations but also a long year of personal upheavals. “There’s a lot of anger in these songs and we wanted the music to communicate that,” Hamm says. “I think a lot of people expect bands to slow down or chill out when they get to where we are, but we consciously didn’t want to do that.”

The opening one-two punch of “Death Dance Approximately” and “I Want To Kill You” exemplifies the acerbic-yet-buoyant feel of Life In Your Glass World, and the latter sums up the album’s defiant themes. Kerekes puts it plainly: “Sometimes you feel like you’re being used. A lot of the lyrics are liberating, they’re reclaiming control.” The band wastes no time in showing their range, pivoting to the melancholy haze of “Blue Sunday” and the bounce of “Thin Air,” both of which meditate on the struggle to invest so much in something only to be let down and retreat inside oneself instead. Elsewhere tracks like “Call Your Bluff” and “Black and Red” showcase Citizen’s knack for big choruses, while “Pedestal” features towering drums and a distorted bass line that’s as malevolent sounding as Kerekes’ vitriolic words. “Fight Beat,” with its tense mix of otherworldly menace and memorable hooks, takes the band’s rhythmic-centric writing to its furthest point yet; lyrically, the song grapples with the realization that one has passed a point of no return, a sentiment that permeates the attitude of Life In Your Glass World. “This isn’t a baby step,” Hamm says. “It’s exactly what we want to do.”

Much of Life In Your Glass World deals with the bleak and challenging aspects of being human, and the album often feels like an exorcism of pent up negative feelings. But those feelings give way to a sense of hope with the closing track “Edge of The World.” Interweaving guitars rise around Kerekes’ voice as he considers past pain with the kind of clarity that can only come from time and distance—and finds promise in looking towards the future. The song builds to a soaring finale as the clouds part and Kerekes declares, “At the end of the day there was beauty in tragedy.” It’s one last turn, the kind of affirmation that makes you reexamine everything you just heard with a newfound perspective. It’s a fitting conclusion for Life In Your Glass World – borne of the confidence gained through years of trials, tribulations, and self reflection – and one that asserts that Citizen’s true identity is rooted in the raw energy of constant evolution.

credits

released March 26, 2021

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about

Citizen Michigan

Run For Cover Records

citizentheband.net

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