Now, Life in Your Glass World was a major release for me in 2021 as it helped bring me back into the scene- during a time when music wasn’t as exciting to me, so don’t blame me for being apprehensive. I’m not going to lie, when I first listened to this album, I wasn’t sold. So, I took some time off, came back to it, and now I am ready to share my thoughts. 

Listening to the record from front to back, there is no discrepancy in the fact that it is a Citizen album. The nuances are there. What is surprising to me is that from the onset, it resonates with a tame nature. The best description I can provide for this is how smooth the songs feel. We have some contrast in terms of style throughout the record, but the overall production of Calling the Dogs is more refined- well, for the most part. 

Tracks like “Bad Company” provide listeners with that go-to Citizen sound. We get strategic silence to emphasize major lyrical points. There are layered vocals that pair sung melodies with screamed ones. The guitar part is used to uplift the melodic line; however, it still has small moments that twinkle to provide transitions in between each part. The heavy portions of this song and others still connect us to the gritty sound that Citizen is keen to use. Don’t worry, the grooves are still there

However, when we hop to songs like “Dogs” we are getting a completely different style with this gritty spoken-word, intensely muffled screamed vocal that is partnered with the Citizen brand stamp of a chorus. This does provide contrast and a new sense of intensity, which we love, but there are times where it feels like it is too much. 

One element of this record that I absolutely love is the pairing of instrumental and melodic (vocal) lines that happen throughout several selections on the album. Commonly, we hear this in the guitar as it mirrors the vocals before splitting off into a new but related countermelody. This stacking of sounds allows us to not only connect with the melody, but it makes certain parts of the song pop out, which creates an interesting flow to keep our attention. The opposite can also be heard when the drums are providing straight metronomic pulses. Moving to this technique snaps our attention to the change to keep interest growing, but it also helps to diversify the techniques that are displayed within a given song. 

I have been thinking about why when this record first came out, it didn’t really resonate with me, and the only decision I can come to is that it is just a solid Citizen record. This by no means makes it bad, I mean, Citizen is always putting out solid music. The hold up is that all of the other Citizen records pushed the boundary of the previous one. There was something to it that made each album a Citizen experience with a zest of something new. Calling the Dogs lacked that for me. I am normally not one to complain about the same thing- if it’s not broke, don’t fix it, you know? But for some reason as I continue to listen to this album, I just want more- 4 out of 5 stars. 

*”Calling the Dogs” was released on October 6th, 2023 through Run for Cover Records