6-6-2025
The new Turnstile arrives with much celebration and fanfare but at its core the album is lackluster and devoid of substance, promising much and looking/sounding glossy, but never delivering substantial songs or songwriting. The album is successful at creating punchiness, moments for uninhibited headbanging and stage diving (as on “Dull” and “Sunshower”), rather than being on the cutting edge, as they were on Glow On, often throwing many different ideas together, but leaving listeners disappointed and frustrated to discover they don’t work or are simply “dull.”
The most obvious problem with this album is that it seems to lack cohesion and the sequencing seems haphazard. From one song to the next, we go from 0 to 60 mph without any warning, or without reason, like in the transition from “Dull” to “Sunshower,” and from “Seein’ Stars” to “Birds.” And further, what connection does the “Birds” intro have to the actual song? When the band has nowhere to go, they seem to default to fast songs for the sake of fast songs. One of the most interesting songs seems to be “Time is Happening.” Unfortunately, the song, like most of the tracks on Never Enough, never goes anywhere, and seems half-baked. Additionally, what also detracts from this song, and much of the album, is the lack of lyrical inventiveness. Singer Brendan Yates never struck me as the type of poet/lyrical genius that the genre ordinarily produces: he is not exactly Wesley Eisold or Pete Wentz: a turn of phrase hasn’t ever been his specialty, leaving listeners to ask “what are these songs even about?” Are the lyrics even saying anything meaningful or significant? Unfortunately, all roads point to no. The songs seem to be confessional, but I get nothing from them. For example, what exactly is “Birds” about? I don’t think there’s any point in trying to unravel the song meanings, for there might not be anything to unravel when the singer is often navel-gazing (cf. “Magic Man”).
Further, there seems to be no common thread between the songs, and no theme or stories within the songs either, just words on a page, anonymous and arbitrary, just vocals for the kids to freak out to or chant along to here and there. For example, what exactly is “light design"? Moreover, many moments on Never Enough feel like he’s going for a Brandon Boyd-type level of depth which just ends up being dull, repeating phrases because he has nothing to say (e.g. “seein’ stars”). Never Enough is just a bunch of new Turnstile songs, never feeling like an “album” because of some of the arbitrary song endings, like on “Sunshower” which never really goes anywhere and pulls the album in different directions (even if some of them are interesting as I mention below). Throughout my repeated listens, I often found myself asking, to quote Lorde, ”what was that?”
Additionally, the riffs on this album are weak, and dare I say, “entry level,” which is fitting since the band is already massive and appealing to audiences of all ages, and bands tend to get watered down as they get bigger (e.g. Weezer, Metallica), but I think listeners came here wanting more, and perhaps that’s where the album title comes from. Still, many sentiments or notes on Never Enough feel heard before. The songs are not technically proficient, and instead of a carefully curated vibe, Never Enough feels like the party is over, and these songs are just the ones that stuck around because they had nowhere else to go. The creativity and originality omnipresent on 2021’s Glow On is absent here. There are some interesting synths on “I Care,” but the attempt to insert, um, trumpet on “Dreaming” is more annoying than interesting. And the solos on “Seein’ Stars” and “Never Enough” feel unimaginative, forced, and arbitrary.
To the album’s credit, there are some interesting segues between songs, like at the end of “Never Enough,” “Look Out For Me,” and “Dull.” "LOOK OUT FOR ME" (the songs are actually stylized in all capitals) is actually a standout track. In fact, if Brendan Yates went solo and produced songs in this vein (and like "Ceiling"), he might be wildly successful. Something tells me this might be the next move for him, as there seems to be somewhat of a “swan song” feeling to the penultimate track “Time is Happening” and the final one “Magic Man” as well, with the latter creating a sort of circle as it coalesces with the intro track “Never Enough,” which arguably works quite well.
I’m sure the album will resonate with many people, as there are some climactic moments (like on “Sole”) that are designed to be played and enjoyed live. But with so many starts and stops, and gear shifts, it’s hard to tell what kind of experience the album is intended to soundtrack. 6/10