Track by Track: Meet Me @ The Altar – Model Citizen EP

Upset faves Meet Me @ The Altar (they were on the cover the other month, you know) are making a statement with their debut EP, ‘Model Citizen’; a statement that says they’ve got this pop-punk business down pat, and are definitely destined for Big Things. But you knew that already, right?

“‘Model Citizen’ is a six-track EP that tells the story of entering adulthood and trying to figure out who you are and who you want to be,” they explain. “Everyone has an idea in their head of what the perfect version of themselves could be, and a lot of the time, they’re unrealistic standards. The tracks of ‘Model Citizen’ go through the different phases of our own journey in finding ourselves.”

Here, the trio talk us through each of the record’s songs, track by track.

Feel A Thing
The opening track of the EP was originally going to be a standalone follow-up single to ‘Garden’, but upon signing to Fueled By Ramen, plans changed. ‘Feel A Thing’ is about becoming aware of the state of your mental health and questioning why you feel (or, in this case, don’t feel) the way you do.

Mapped Out
After becoming aware that you don’t feel like your normal self comes the phase of feeling lost. Being lost feels like you’re in the middle of a really deep forest with no compass and no map, and we wanted the lyrics to reflect that. But realising that you’re lost starts the process of searching to find yourself.

Brighter Days (Are Before Us)
Life is full of ups and downs, and ‘Brighter Days’ is one of those ups. You’re now starting to find what you were searching for and realising your purpose as a person in this world. It’s starting to feel like you have everything figured out, and you’re optimistic for what the future holds.

Now Or Never
This one is a collective favourite. ‘Now Or Never’ is a love song (not specifically romantic or specifically platonic) about the decision you have to make in a relationship when you have to drift apart for whatever reason. It’s very important to maintain healthy relationships in your life, and it’s not healthy to be in a stagnant period where there’s no communication. You have to decide whether you’re going to make things work or go your separate ways.

Never Gonna Change
The instrumental for this song was actually one of the first we wrote at the start of quarantine that we revived for the EP. Never Gonna Change is one of those downs in life when you revert back to your old ways and automatically think you’re never gonna be able to change. It takes a lot of self-reflection to accept the fact that you’re the root cause of all your problems after you’ve been blaming other people for them.

Wake Up
We like to call Wake Up our recess song because it sounds so fun and makes you just wanna hop around. We wanted to give ourselves a song on the EP to just unleash all our crazy ideas. Most people wouldn’t expect a pop-punk band to be influenced by Ke$ha, but she actually had a big influence on the bridge and the end of the song. Wake Up is about no longer accepting the fact that you can’t change and knowing that you need to do something about it.