‘Myself In The Way’ is the latest offering from the genre-switching four piece and, working with long time collaborator, Will Yip, Turnover seem to have found a vibe they’re seemingly comfortable with.
When you press play on a new Turnover record, you never quite know what you’re going to get. From the early days of the debut album, ’Magnolia’, the band were pivotal in the resurgence of the grunge-tinged, emo rock movement. The band then opted to drop the fuzz pedals and instead decided to craft twinkly dream pop for their phenomenal follow up album ‘Peripheral Vision’ in 2015. Since then we’ve had a couple more albums and more shifts in sound and Turnover have made it clear that they don’t feel like settling on a certain sound but the overall tone and feeling of ‘Myself In The Way’ isn’t a million miles away from their previous record. That isn’t to say there isn’t anything new on offer here though.
“It’s the kind of album that would be best suited as the soundtrack to a lazy Sunday morning. Its sunny outside and the curtains are open but you aren’t quite ready to get out bed just yet.”
‘Stone Station’ kicks things off and it’s essentially a short introduction with a dreamlike synth refrain that leads directly into recent single, ‘Tears Of Change’. Its slow paced and softly sung with clean guitars bending in and out of pitch in an almost uncomfortable way. The chorus brings things together more succinctly to create a breezy feel that floats along just fine. The title track and first single comes in hot with a bunch of stacked, lightly auto-tuned vocals and harmonies that slide into a verse that picks up the pace a tad. The beat is danceable and the chorus brings with it a huge hook. ‘I can’t put myself in the way of love again’ chimes vocalist, Austin Getz, in a moment that’ll have all Turnover fans vibing out.
The albums slips back into a slower pace for the majority of its run time. There’s an abundance of new synth and electronic elements in the mix but that’s not to say the signature guitars are absent. It’s clear that the band had a lot of fun in the studio using various guitar pedals and effects. There’s echo, delay, wah and all sorts of strange sounds all over the record. ‘Mountains Made Of Clouds’ is perfectly titled as it opens with outdoor sounds of nature and has a floaty feeling throughout. The guitars are a bit more prominent here and are reminiscent of 90’s brit rock with their swirling effects channeling some early Radiohead while ‘Pleasures Galore’ starts with lo-fi dance synth pads from a similar era. The latter drifts along with serene vocals as new elements are added to the track as it goes along. Gentle guitar strums, simple beats and an extremely groovy bass line all converse with the hook of the song which comes in the form a whistle-like soft synth. It’s all very peaceful.
There are a couple of guest vocalists smattered across the album too. Turnstile’s Brendan Yates shows up on ‘Myself In The Way’ but the highlight lands with Bre Morell (of Temple Of Angels) on ‘Ain’t Love Heavy’. The song is a slow burn of different elements building on top of each other and by the time the drums pop in and the vocals start you can’t help but bop along. Bre provides a nice counter to Austin’s vocal which, while it’s always mellow, is a nice change and helps the track slide into a euphoric feeling towards the end.
On the whole, ‘Myself In The Way’ stays firmly in one place, sonically. It’s upbeat and soft and carries with it an overwhelming feeling of being carefree. It’s the kind of album that would be best suited as the soundtrack to a lazy Sunday morning, when it’s sunny outside and the curtains are open but you aren’t quite ready to get out bed just yet.