The Citizens

Album Cover for the Citizens new release.

The Citizens hit the scene last year with their EP “Already Not Yet”. The short, but highly encouraging album consists of three remade hymns (“Amazing Grace”, “In Tenderness”, and “Nothing but the Blood”) and one very powerful closer in their original song “Oh God”. All three hymns are very upbeat with a purpose, and remade to fit the music scene today with the style that The Citizens are trying to achieve- energetic worship in the style of indie (I know, it’s a bit wordy). Regardless of how you would try to categorize their style of worship, one thing is for sure: it is genuine and it is good.

Their new self-titled  album that released this week follows suit of the previous EP as it contains three hymns with the other eight songs being original creations. The band chose to cover two new hymns in “I Surrender All” and “Praise to the Lord”, as well as include “In Tenderness”. Each hymn brings a new dynamic to the album and provides the listener with a different worship experience.  “I Surrender All” slows down the pace and enables to listener to reflect and meditate throughout the track.

The original songs are truly what steal the show though. “Made Alive” boasts a catchy chorus that you’ll get stuck in your head all day (in a good way). The instruments throughout are top notch and unique. The bass in “Hail the King” really stands out, and is a forefront sound when typically just heralded as background noise. Most of all though, it is the lyrics and poetic writing truly written for God that are the cornerstone for the album. These lyrics from their song “I am Living in a Land of Death” exemplify what the band strived for while crafting and writing each song:

 

“So I feel alive with a life that’s not mine,

And I’m believing that it is Your intended design”

 

The song continues and eventually ends with this verse:

 

“So much more than precious gold,

Is the beauty I behold,

Give me the glorious reward,

Of knowing You my King, my Lord.”

 

The Citizens’ calling card is their ability to make worship a natural thing, with their powerful lyrics and style of music that is current with today’s top artists, this band is reaching out to the masses. If you are searching for a different type of worship, one that ups the ante in this genre, be sure and check out The Citizens. There is nothing to regret.

It’s Amazing How You Think You Know A Person…

… and then they go and amaze you in with a senseless act of selfishness. It’s human nature but we, or at least I, still expect more. The one thing my mind always winds back up at is the idea that people just are who they are. Some people may never change from the bad habits they’ve incurred. Some people are imprisoned by the behaviors they subject themselves to, and have fallen victims to before in their lives. It’s a tough concept to remember about humanity, but when I do I feel more caring, less frustrated, and more Jesus driven.

People are just people. I am no better. We all have a history that has molded us, shaped us, and we have been formed into something, good and bad, by our past. We can grow. We are called to overcome. But more often than not, we are called to help others overcome.

Love.

Empathy.

A heart after God’s own will.

God loves us through thick and thin, we’ve got to learn to love each other through the same.