NEW MUSIC: You Citizen’s In This State Is a Rewarding Study in Electro-Garage Contrast
Based in Claremont, California, You Citizen is the engaging project of multi-instrumental musician, Bill McElnea.
Bill McElnea of You Citizen (Image: Jose De La Roca)
Origin Story: From Oberlin to Claremont
Bill McElnea got his start in the early 2000s NYC music scene with The Connection, an indie rock trio founded at Oberlin College in 1998.
After disbanding in 2003, school and life took over and it wasn’t until fifteen years later that Bill launched his next project, VosFM, with Connection bassist Tom Francavilla. The release of a three-song EP in 2022 saw moderate success on streaming platforms.
Wanting to move decisively in a more post-punk direction, Bill began You Citizen in 2023 and began to build up a body of work culminating in the album In This State.
An Anatomy of Frustration and Fuzz
You Citizen, In This State album artwork
“An intimate, synth-tinged alternative record built around emotional tension and dynamic release.”
Released on 5th June, 2026 the album was recorded in Hanover, Massachusetts and Claremont, California, where Bill now resides. The 12-song opus is an ode to his influences and a reflection of the tectonic life shifts he experienced during its creation.
With influences ranging from The Velvet Underground to later ‘80s and ‘90s outfits such as The Cure, Joy Division, My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Pavement and The Pixies, Bill harnesses a sound that he describes as a hybrid of "electro-garage" and alternative rock.
He heavily emphasises driving guitar hooks, textured atmospheric synths, and stripped-back electronic drum programming throughout the engaging cocktail of sounds and textures across the 12 tracks.
The album’s lead single, Kindly Be Cruel, is a standout song—its Friday I’m In Love Cure energy meets The Smashing Pumpkins’ 1979 soundscape, anchoring the track’s insistent mantra: "Kindly be cruel in a fair way."
Other highlights of the album include I Want Details with its Generation X–pumped, relentless The Strokes-glazed riffage; the hyper-beats of Wild; Blue To Be Monday’s anthemic chorus; the moody but uplifting Awe On Display; the wistful, lilting Slowful Silence; and the driving, rhythmic pull of Mind On.
The title track, In This State, uses syncopated and jerky guitar figures to lament "this frustrationship that’s come to stay."
While In This State remains a core solo endeavor—with Bill writing, performing, and recording the bulk of the album’s vocals, guitars, synths, and drum programming—the record is enriched by a collaborative team. Mixing engineers Jon Crawford and Joe Clapp also contributed on the audio front, with Clapp contributing additional programming, bass, and guitar work.
Key guest highlights appear throughout the tracklist: Jon Crawford handles live drums on Blue To Be Monday, Kindly Be Cruel, In This State, and Low Line, while Tom Smith provides bass on Blue To Be Monday and the title track. A standout ensemble graces Slowful Silence, featuring drum performance by Cougar Estrada (formerly of Los Lobos), bass and keys by John McKnight (formerly of Fishbone), and pedal steel from Joti Rockwell.
Dealing with themes of dysphoria and dislocation, the structural tension in the album comes from the interplay between the control and routine of locked-in electronic rhythms and the internal conflict represented by the erratic but compelling, fuzz-drenched guitars.
The result is a powerfully textured artistic statement balancing rigid electronic beats with raw, cathartic guitar noise—honouring the spirit of '90s shoegaze and post-punk while retaining a distinctly modern sheen and never losing sight of melody.
A rewarding listen, well worth spending some time with, and more than justifies the patient craft of its one-man creation.
Check it out on all of the usual streaming platforms—Spotify album link here:
Track Listing and credits:
Too Bright
I Want Details
Wild
Blue To Be Monday
Awe On Display
A Hard Appeal
Late Again
Kindly Be Cruel
Slowful Silence
Mind On
In This State
Low Line
All songs written and performed by William Kent McElnea
Engineering and mixing by Jon Crawford and Joe Clapp
