Citizen 16 - Construct

Now, this is an interesting project I was directed towards. Their name is Citizen 16, located in the good old United States (more specifically, the San Francisco Bay Area). They began in late 2010, so they are new, however, new talent should always make way for new directions in the industrial arena. And, well, they certainly do that. They're a blend of both dark electro and futurepop, and while you would expect the harsh and distraught vocals not to really fit too well within the genre, I found myself quite surprised as how eloquently everything was patched together.

The first song, Construct is definitely fitting for the rest of the fray you shall frolic through. You are given a very uppity and very club like beat. What's weird is just what I had already mentioned; the futurepop elements, such as a lot of the lighter synths and otherwise eighties sounding melodies, come and go just as the distortion does. When the vocals come in, you are treated to a much more dark electro, harsh EBM sounding beat, but when they disappear, so does the harshness of the song. You are given time to breathe, and the song makes way for a lighter, but still fast paced tune with some female, digitalized voices.

Fragile Man just made me back the fuck up and know my place in this album, not because of it's harshness, but just because of how good it was. I mean, I don't want to make this album sound like the Holy Grail of all things industrial, but it's definitely a fun listen to. And, I really enjoyed this song. The vocals seemed to be a bit too light, and a bit too enhanced for my tastes, but, other than that, I really enjoyed it.

I wasn't too fond of Desert Winds, for it comes practically straight on like a dark electro song, and God knows I've heard a lot of those to actually notice a difference in this one and the rest. I suppose the piano work woven into the song makes it stand out some. However, Leaving comes straight out of the light of this album, and wraps it's tight whip around my neck and forces me straight back in.

The song gets rid of the distorted vocals, and anything too harsh about the album, and pops us straight into a brilliant song, filled with chimes, guitar work, and vocals that aren't enhanced at all. The female vocals definitely outshine the male vocals in this song, as they really fit in well. And, while the male voice is nice, is just seems a bit out of tune with the rest of the song.

And then My Friend continues with the light side of the album, and creeps in with another soothing beat. Still able to be danced to, and the male vocals come back in. I found myself not enjoying the singing all too much again, however, I still found the beat to be nice, but not too different from some other shit I listened to before. I'd have to say the same about the next song, When Heaven Burns.

That Night brought me back up to speed, though, despite my distaste for the last two. The vocals sound like they belong, and during the chorus, with as much as is going on, I feel like putting the song in loop just so I can embrace every last bit of this song.

And then, for a moment, the album puts on it's break. With the two next songs, Requiem For a Citizen and The Grave, there's a calming of sorts; a deep seated calming. The first song mentioned is an instrumental that left me not too inspired. The violin work felt very nice to me, but I suppose the looping, and higher pitched synth flowing with it really didn't fit well with me. Then the latter song sounds almost like a depressing song that a loner (after his girlfriend broke up with him) would sing with a guitar in his hand on a beach as the sunset approaches. It almost sounds like it should belong in a cheesy romantic comedy. That being said, I didn't like this song too much, either.

But, thankfully, the album takes off the e-brake, and slams back into the futurepop inspired genre with their final song, Anglification. It's a harsher song, but the singing stays light, and it was enjoyable.

Now, I am a bit confused as to how I should rate this album, I will not lie, so consider this both my thought pattern, and my rant to myself. It did confuse me here and there, as it did start off very dark electro like, and then switched to solely futurepop, and went a few other routes. A lot of it was enjoyable despite my bitching, for I do a lot of bitching and nitpicking. I found a few songs that blew me away rather well, but others just had me saying, "This is okay."

It is far from horrible, and there definitely is a lot to see in this project. I think if they found more of a solid ground to stand on, this band could really push forth and break a new barrier. But, for now, I must say that this album was a decent effort at best, but I am most arbitrarily looking forward to this band's next release. Aug 21 2013