Posted on: December 2, 2007 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Citay – Little Kingdom / 2007 Dead Ocean / 8 Tracks / http://www.deadoceans.com /

Citay provides a twinkling atmosphere during the opening to their “Little Kingdom”, the emotive and instrumentally intricate “First Fantasy”. During “First Fantasy”, the clearness and natural sound of the instrumental compositions make me confident that Citay could conceivably make an entirety instrumental album and succeed. Of course, vocals do kick in after a certain point, but the band titillates listeners by showing exactly how talented the instrumental segment of the band is.

The dreamy, hazy sound of “First Fantasy” provides individuals with an instrumental focus that has not been heard since the days of early Appleseed Cast and Desert City Soundtrack. It is refreshing to hear that a band could focus so intensely on the instrumental section of their music in a time where the lead singer and their output is typically valued at a much higher rate than the instrumental section of the band. This different focus makes a six-plus minute track like “First Fantasy” go by quickly; the band varies up their sound while still playing around a general set of styles and sound through all of the tracks of “Little Kingdom”. This has the effect of going forth and tattooing a general association to a specific sound to anyone listening in to Citay. The disc’s second, title track continues with the same focus on the instrumental section of the act, adding in to the atmosphere that has been cultivated up to this point.

It is not that Citay provides listeners with music that is brutal, intense, or otherwise red-lines the senses, but that they are intense in the care that they take in providing amazing compositions. Citay is a tremendous act to get behind, and while I’m not sure how well the Citay experience would be in a live setting, I could completely see myself throwing on a pair of earphones and zoning out for the entirety of this album’s forty five minute run time.

Top Track: A Riot of Color

Rating: 7.6/10

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