From Mars Hill to Anotherland: How Citizens Continues To Reimagine Faith Through Sound

Unlike most of the artists and groups we cover on The New Wave, Citizens is not a new band. They’ve been a part of the conversation around faith and music since their early days as part of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, have released eight projects (and many more singles), and definitely lean more still-artsy-millennial than Gen Z. For all of those reasons, this group is an outlier on our page — but for so many others, they perfectly fit the brand and the mission of everything we’re building and showcasing here.

From day one, Citizens has made a point to sonically push Christian music, refusing to stay inside a sonic or lyrical box. They are willing to question and wrestle like David did in the Psalms while worshiping the Lord all the more in the tension (also like David did). They’ve released music that would fit right into congregational church worship settings, but also songs that would fit right into secular indie alt-rock playlists and still stand out in terms of quality. Through it all, they’ve somehow maintained a strong vision and an ability to create something new and interesting — and their brand-new album m us eum is an incredible continuation of that New Wave energy.

Some Context

Before going track by track through this short but hard-hitting project and closing out with some thoughts, I think it’s important to set the scene for this release so we can really understand where this music is coming from outside of just what we hear on the album.

As mentioned before, this band — formerly known as Citizens and Saints — has been around for a minute, having released their first full-length project in 2012, a little over 13 years ago. A lot could be said about the culture that this band was created in (and I would love to cover this wave of Christian music on this page in the future), but to be brief: this band was originally one of many artist projects coming out of a large, well-known church in Seattle called Mars Hill. Many looked to this church as a primary example of how to grow a body and reach people during the early 2000s.

Much can be said about this movement (check out the incredible podcast The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill for a nuanced and fascinating deep dive), but for the sake of brevity we won’t go there right now. All we need to know is that at this time, Seattle was full of young creatives who were part of a wave of indie/alternative rock music, and Mars Hill Church made it their mission to reach those people and create fantastic creative music that would appeal to the people of the city. Citizens came out of this mission, and although the band is no longer affiliated with the church, they have carried on that intentionality — to innovate and create quality art for the sake of encouraging the saints and seeking the lost.

Over the years, they’ve released many extremely creative projects and singles, including their self-titled record Citizens, which featured highly commercially successful tracks like “Made Alive” and “In Tenderness.” (You’ve probably heard these even if you don’t recognize the track names — and if you haven’t, go check them out.) Notably, Citizens recently signed a record deal with Anotherland, an independent label started by Hillsong worship legend Joel Houston. This label is pretty new but has already collected an incredible roster of very New Wave artists like Citizens who are pushing the boundaries of what Christian music can be.

Some Songs (jk all of them)

A LOT more could be said about Mars Hill, Citizens’ back discography, and everything Anotherland is doing, and a lot more will be said in the future, but it would be a miss for the power of this album to be lost in my tendency to ramble. So let’s jump into each song — for each track I’ll share a few thoughts and a key lyric before closing out this article with some general thoughts on the album.

Holy Divine
Citizens choose to start off the album with this really cool pulsing synth and beautifully layered, almost robotic harmonies, making it clear from the beginning that this is both a worship album and one that isn’t going to let that confine it sonically. I love the driving nature of this song, and the lyrics drip with worship and adoration in a captivating way. On this opening track, Citizens set the scene, making it clear that this album is a result of their awe — an explosion of praise that they are physically unable to keep in.

Surprised.
The second track on this album is weird, upbeat, and very danceable. It starts with the nervousness of going all in with God but centers on a desire to see God work in new ways. Backed by the driven, fun instrumental of this album, I’m reminded that following God can be new and unfamiliar — but that’s part of what makes it exciting throughout.

Morning Glory, Don’t You Worry.
Another very fun, danceable banger on the project. THE SAXOPHONE IS SO SICK. As I listen to this song in my AirPods in this coffee shop, I look like a fool bobbing my head and grinning in the corner, but I can’t help it. Beyond the sonics, this song seems to be about peace in anxiety through worship and knowing God.

Scales
As a whole, this upbeat (but slightly more chill) track expresses feeling lost in a terrible place and finding healing from God — but the way they go about it is really cool. Many of the lyrics sound like personal, poetic anecdotes, but the whole thing, and especially the chorus, is centered on the apostle Paul’s conversion from a misguided, Christian-killing zealot to arguably the most influential missionary in the history of the church.

By referencing this passage, Citizens intentionally draw a parallel, making the claim that God has healed them and helped them see truth and purpose in a similar way.

You Already Like Me.
This song is a really powerful sentiment to me — and it’s not just because of the driving, heavy-hitting guitars in the chorus (though those help for sure). In short, this track is about being able to come to God the way we are. The phrase “you already like me” is so simple but also PROFOUND, especially in a world where so many people feel like they need to clean themselves up to come to God. This song makes the claim that God doesn’t just love us despite our flaws; He also loves us and loves specific things about us that represent His character (imago Dei, anyone?).

I Think You Always Will. (ft. Kings Kaleidoscope)
Remember the Mars Hill–centered indie/alt-rock movement that I mentioned above? It’s time we meet another major player in this space — the boundary-pushing, highly successful, uncontainable force known as Kings Kaleidoscope. Although these bands have existed in the same circle for a while, this is their first official collaboration that I’m aware of, so it feels like a big deal (and works really well). This song is also very danceable, sustained by a really interesting, weird bouncy airy synth carried under most of the song. It has a very similar theme to the last song (and when you look at the tracklist it seems like they intentionally placed them together — You Already Like Me. I Think You Always Will.). So cool.

Favorite Parts
This is such a fun song to me and has some of the most catchy melodies of the entire project — it’ll probably be stuck in my head for a while. In short, it’s about slowing down and experiencing God despite the fast pace of the world (a reminder I really need today and every day).

I Love You and You’re Alright.
The saxophone strikes again — but this time over a track that starts off much more mellow and feels like a really chill, easy listen throughout. It’s a fun, simple song that could be Citizens singing to a friend, but to me feels like it’s God talking to a person — telling them that they are loved and can stop and have peace with Him.

Margins
We’re in the final moments of the album, and Citizens waste no second to add to the sonic palette of the album and drive in some of their key themes (more on that in a minute). This song is another fun, danceable (but more chill) track, this time emphasizing God’s choice to “step into the margins,” coming down to meet man instead of expecting them to make their way to Him. This song is fantastic, and the outro is a beautiful, mesmerizing way to end the project.

Some Thoughts

As you can probably tell from how I wrote my song-by-song section, I LOVE this album and everything it represents. It’s sonically very palatable and easy to listen to while also taking creative risks with guitars and synths — creating an album that feels fun and worshipful throughout while continuing to be fresh and new.

A good amount of ground is covered on this album, but if I could sum it up in a phrase, I would say that this album is about “experiencing God’s consistent character in new ways.” Many songs talk about God’s unchanging mercy and emphasize that, though man may change and make mistakes, God’s love is there throughout. Scales, which references Paul’s conversion, and You Already Like Me., which references Adam and Eve’s attempt to hide in the garden, put current experiences in the context of God’s revealed consistent faithfulness. Pretty much every song is written as a reminder that God consistently loves us.

In contrast, the theme of finding new ways to see this character exists throughout the album, both lyrically and sonically. Favorite Parts is a great example — in it, the singer talks about slowing down in a busy world and finding God in the flowers and the beauty around him. The track Surprised. is an even more potent example of this — the whole thing is about wanting to see God work in new ways in a way that surprises someone into loving God more rightly.

This theme of new ways of seeing God is extremely evident in how this album is produced and how it sounds and feels. Everything that is sung about is a historic, Scriptural truth (nothing new under the sun type beat), but it feels fresh. And I think that’s why I love this album. I am reminded of what I have heard a thousand times, but the danceable beats, heavy guitars, and odd swirly synths make the truth new to me. Even after 10+ years making and releasing music, Citizens have still found a way to showcase God’s character in a new way. In the Psalms, we are invited to “sing a new song” for the Lord, and I am so grateful that Citizens — and so many other artists in this new wave of Christian music — are choosing to do so.