Citizens Band Orchestra - Images & Words vol.1

Citizens Band Orchestra

Images & Words vol.1
​self-released; 2022

4.1 out of 5 - TOP ALBUM

By Matt Jensen

JD Fridlund aka Citizens Band Orchestra is back with a new release Images & Words vol​.​1. Last year his release Sometimes it’s All Too Much earned Top Album honors from Divide and Conquer and this release continues to showcase the undeniable talent from the artist. Fridlund mentions “This release is the first in a series of planned releases under the project called #imagesandwordsproject, where I combine my artwork with my music.” Truth be told I think this is a ubiquitous and timeless concept whether it be album art or many pieces of art. That’s one of the benefits of buying vinyl, CD’s, etc. I remember buying CD’s and vinyl and sometimes you would get all this extra tangible artwork.

“Images & Words” is the opener and starts off with some distant sounding guitar, vinyl type scratches and very subtle percussion. The vocals are melancholy and immediately comforting and palatable. Other instrumentation layers on the song and feels symbiotic. One thing I noticed is that the song is purposely lo-fi at first. The vocals become more prominent, complex rhythmic patterns emerge and the song builds. I teared up a bit listening to the lyrics because I think any artist who finds salvation in their art can find truth here. Fridlund sings “every day when I come home from work, I just wanna drift off until it doesn't hurt and I find some kind of piece, singing about these things I keep building these worlds when I'm in there nothing hurts it's just images and words.”

“On Cerrillos Rd” is a heartfelt song about struggle, mundane existence and ephemeral moments of beauty that pass us by too quickly. The song starts off simple enough and builds with more layers. I thought the music itself was quite bright and joyful sounding which provided a juxtaposition that makes the song that much more layered.

“Clarksville” is just honest and heartfelt folk music in the spirit of Simon & Garfunkel. It starts with beautiful guitar picking and vocals. The song does bloom with percussion and vocal harmonies. There are again just some exceptional lines on this song like “what's a man without imagination? all dried out, dead inside.”

​“Abiquiu (on the way to...) album version” closes the EP and the mixing was exceptional on this song. There are intricate guitar patterns, a steady rhythm and some of the most complex vocal arrangements. I loved this song as the EP seemed to focus on struggle. It’s not a happy ending though it is more reflective and feels more like an epiphany. The instrumentation conveys this while he sings “And late at night you wake me up with tears in your eyes and we lay there silent in the dark, side by side while waves of thunder rolls across the sky no stars dancing on the lake tonight…”

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