Citizen – ‘Halcyon Blues’ [Album Review]

On August 7th 2026, Michigan & Ohio natives Citizen returned to the fold with album number six, Halcyon Blues. Thirteen years removed from their debut album Youth, which catapulted them into the upper tiers of what was then called the Fourth Wave of Emo. Along with the likes of Basement, Title Fight and Joyce Manor, they placed huge value in the emotion of the lyrics whilst drawing on the harsher elements of post-hardcore and grunge musically. It was a sound that became hugely relatable to fans across the spectrum of genres and, for the duration of Citizen’s journey, will mark a huge pivotal moment for them.

However, the four albums that followed didn’t lean on the success and popularity of Youth. Instead, they expanded, experimented, and seemed to elevate their sound into something uniquely recognisable. The truth is, all five albums have been wildly fantastic in their own right. Incorporating elements of Shoegaze, Pop and Alt-rock into their sound along the way, with a big dose of road-worn maturity and experience that the years naturally bring, it’s fair to say that a Citizen record in 2026 is a far more intriguing and exciting proposition than it has ever been.

Enter Halcyon Blues, Citizen’s first album in three years and comes at a time when the fellow bands that Citizen broke through with are now releasing some of the best music of their careers. A coincidence? In my opinion, not at all. These bands have grown up in front of our eyes and are all reaching a point in time where they now have the keys to the home they feel most comfortable in. For Citizen in particular, this notion of fitting into a space and grounding themselves to a specific sound has always felt like something they actively fought against. But as they have proven, you can be distinct and uniquely appealing and still push the boundaries of what people expect from you.

So does Halcyon Blues sound like any other Citizen record? Well, what it sounds like is a perfect amalgamation of every bit of sonic brilliance they have crafted over the past decade, sewn together into 37 minutes of absolute magic. For me, it’s the first time Citizen have felt and sounded truly comfortable and unapologetic in the twists and turns the songs take. It’s awkward and confronting lyrically, which gives it a layer of depth and familiarity throughout and musically this record feels more like a refinement of the tools they have rather than an experiment into finding something that’s missing or new.

The album opens with “Good Fortune”, a song which is probably as close to the fiery, fast driving, heavy-hitting Citizen blueprint of a decade ago that we get on Halcyon Blues. They lean heavily into 2000s indie grooves and melodies throughout, but on tracks like “I Can See You From Here” and “Always The Last One To Leave” they inject these huge, floaty, shoegaze atmospherics that open up these songs and allow them to really grow and breathe. Whilst on “Is It My Brain” and “Either Way”, they build these lush layers of simplistic tones that are reminiscent of early Bloc Party era Brit rock but with far more emotion and purposeful changes of pace.

Lead singer Mat Kerekes goes through various stages of trauma and resolution throughout, predominantly sitting in an angst pocket of sobering self-reflection that sounds more layered back than it does pacing the floorboards. When he lets himself spit with some vitriol on “Matador”, a song which opens with these dark and moody electronics and has an oppressive tension to it. It’s such a contrast to everything around it, it makes for a really jarring and brilliant moment on the record. For me, the two standout songs come by the way of “Highs And Lows”, a song which captures the real essence of Citizen’s musical journey up to this moment, blending everything you’ve come to know and love about them into a song that has real heart and screams of relatable, personally lived experience.

The other is the album’s closing track “Anne”, which will no doubt become a staple in the band’s live sets going forward. It’s a beautiful, dreamy fusion of keys, complex drum patterns and ‘Gorillaz’ style vocals & acoustic breakout moments, it’s an easy call for best last song on an album in 2026.

As a complete body of music, this album is about as emotionally authentic as you can get, and sonically each song carries its own identity, serving everything around it. Citizen have their Black Album, and it feels like the perfect moment for a band who have achieved, inspired and created so much to get their flowers and enjoy the limelight.

Halcyon Blues Tracklisting:

1. Good Fortune
2. I Can See You From Here
3. Halcyon Blues
4. Is It In My Brain
5. Always the Last One To Leave
6. Either Way
7. Matador
8. Ether
9. Smooth Talker
10. Highs and Lows
11. Anne

Run Time: 37:26
Release Date: August 7th, 2026
Record Label: Run For Cover Records