Embedded Files
By Ahren PaVel
NEVER ENOUGH is Turnstile’s latest album, which displays indie synth sounds that make you feel like you're in a dream world, paired with the loud and fast speed of punk. Turnstile has been growing in popularity due to the sound of their music and their strong crowd participation.
“NEVER ENOUGH”- The title track hits strongly with a nostalgic mix of a keyboard and synthesiser. The song later kicks in with strong guitar, drums, and bass, giving an indie rock sound. The song itself I believe to be about a feeling of never fitting in, a feeling of being out of place, but most importantly, never being enough for the world around you. Brendan seems to be conveying that even when he's “In the right place/ At the right time,” he still fails to drop this feeling, describing it through the lyrics, “And still you sink into the floor.”
“SOLE”- This song is an immediate continuation after NEVER ENOUGH’s ending (instrumental-wise). The beat kicks up, playing the first heavier song off the album. The song is fast-paced with extended bridges to capture more of an emotional feeling. The lyrics describe how a majority of the time it's better to let go rather than hold onto nothing and hurt yourself more: “Tapped out and tearing at the seams/ Dragged on the feelings in between/ Pulling on the people that you know/ A lesson to be learned in letting go.” Another part of the song describes seeing a better end place but not being able to reach it: “Bright lights are never what they seem/ So high, there's nowhere left to lean/ When everything is out of your control/ A lesson to be learned in letting go.” A major part of this song and a common theme in the album already is the fact that being alone is better than holding onto something or having your guard up.
“I CARE”- “I CARE” is one of the more poppy songs on the album, something you'd happen to hear on the radio. The upbeat song is a surprising change-up up especially after the vibes of the last two songs. I believe this song is talking about the past experience told in “SOLE,” the holding onto a feeling and not wanting to let go: “I'm happy to give myself away/ I'm happy to fix what I can't change/ All because you know I care/ All because you know I'm there/ I'm happy to sink into regret/ If only to lose myself in it.” Another huge factor in the song leads me to believe that the song itself is a 1st person perspective of someone wanting to change a relationship (either romantic or platonic): “But do you really wanna fall apart?/ And do you really wanna break my heart in two?” The song adds more to the idea that the album is about being in touch with your emotions as social events transpire around you.
“DREAMING”- The track opens with a brass opening, followed by that heavy sound we heard back in “SOLE.” The song continues with the trumpets sounding in every once in a while. The lyrics describe how having dreams makes a person realize that sometimes their fears are more real than they really are. It shows the fact that even when dreaming, you can't fully escape your real life: “When I get to dreaming, then I know/ Everything I fear is so real.” The lyrics follow with more explanation of the place he wants to be, but that place is falling apart. I believe this is to symbolize the author waking up from their dreamland: “You're fading away/ A beautiful dream/ The colors at play/ All falling out of place.”
“LIGHT DESIGN”- This next one takes a complete 180 back to the start of the album with the keyboard and synthesiser sound. The song quickly turns into an indie rock song as soon as the rest of the instruments kick in. The lyrics, I believe, are meant to symbolize the aftermath of a breakup or a disconnection of people. The song talks about a person being on their own, feeling alone, and left to deal with their problems: “Never thought I'd be on my own/ But I survived.” The song blames the problems with being alone on someone's “light design.” I interpret the “light design” to be someone's attention and/or affection. Without the affection/attention of a loved one while having problems, the lyrics follow with the person crying in return, “I hold my head and cry.”
“DULL”- Again, the album kicks back into this heavy, fast gear. With the start of the song slowly amping up during the middle, followed by another calm bit. The song follows this back and forth to further demonstrate the ideas of the lyrics. The lyrics, I believe, follow someone slowly growing boring and dull. As they start caring about nothing else: “And there's a ringing when you talk to me/ Talk to me/ Ringing when you talk to me/ Talk to me/ I'm going dull.”
“SUNSHOWER”- The album maintains a similar energy to the last one. The song is incredibly fast with slight breaks. The lyrics talk about “Days into years holding out/ barely on the borderline,” followed by “Sky opens up, blue and warm, and I step into the light.” I believe the lyrics talk about the effects of seasonal depression and how the sun and warmth of summer help people feel better mentally. “My head is overjoyed/ And this is where I wanna be.” I believe the chugging of the instruments themselves symbolizes one's happiness during the summer/spring season. As everything feels lighthearted and upbeat. There are occasional pauses in the song for the lyric, “Rain!” I believe this to be seasonal depression cutting in with the weather change of rain as everything usually becomes dark and miserable. Before this section of the song, there are mentions of rain, and this is exclusively talking about awful experiences: “I was slipping up/ I didn't know which way to go (rain)/ I was in my head, face down in the dirt (rain).”
“LOOK OUT FOR ME”- This song kicks in fast with the punk vibes and happens to be the longest song on the entire album. There are breaks with a melancholy feel before blasting back out with the loud heaviness of the guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. The lyrics for the song depict a looming sense of anxiety amongst the writer, as well as themes of rumors sprouting in his life: “Circling the drain of every possibility/ Standing in the corner with the things I never said/ Not a lot of reason when your brain's gone to your head.” The song continues, and the lyrics develop this idea more with “Now my heart is hanging by a thread.” This explains the anxiety the writer is feeling as it tears him apart inside, making him sad and anxious. The song switches back to this keyboard and synthesizer with a melancholy feel. The next lyrics in this melancholy feel are “Mistaken for your shadow/ We're standing in a line to disappear/ It's unfair, unfair, unfair.” I interpret this to be the writer expressing his emotions and anxiety with another person. They don't feel it's fair to just disappear from someone's life, whether it be in a literal or hypothetical sense.
“CEILING”- This is the shortest song on the album and is just a weird, calm break, as if it were a break from the madness of the past few songs. The lyrics, on the other hand, describe the feelings of nothing changing. Instead, everything kind of just falls apart while you're left staring into nothingness, disappointed: “On me when I change/ on me when I stay the same/ And I'm reminded/ Try to make a plan/ but it shatters in your hands/ All the pieces/ Never understand it/ so I'm lying here and staring/ At the ceiling.”
“SEEIN’ STARS”- The song feels like a completely different vibe from anything else in the album. The song itself has a 70’s/80’s disco feel to it. The song is very reminiscent of the synth-pop and new wave era of music. I believe the lyrics depict someone who wants to put their trust into someone who has completely wronged them, thinking that maybe they have changed after the fact. A different person with different intentions, when in fact it's the opposite: “You know I've come to find it hard/ To know exactly where you are/ You left me folded in the dark.” I believe the lyrics that follow are the person trying to justify trusting them, seeing the good times they have had in the past, or how trusting them had led them into a sense of insecurity: “And now I'm seein' stars again/ And now I'm seein' stars again.”
“BIRDS”- This song immediately hits with a humming sound in the background, followed by the drummer banging on a set of musical blocks. The song follows into this energetic fast fast-paced tempo before slowing down for a breakdown. The lyrics, I believe, talk about finally belonging and no longer feeling like an outsider.” The feeling described as “I don't know, but I believe/ I found a song playing just for me, And now I'm free, free, free, free, free, free.” The next lyric I interpret as the writer no longer needing to act like someone else in order to try to fit in, instead finding themselves to help them fit in more. “No one left to be, be, be, be, be, be, be, be.” The next set of lyrics, I think, is the author talking about finding peace after acknowledging that there will be balance in the world: “I was told that love and death go hand in hand/ When you find/ Is when you understand.” Lastly, the final verse has this understanding that these “birds” aren't meant to fly alone. This would symbolize how the writer doesn't think that people should be alone, that they should instead be able to have someone to rely on: “Finally I can see it/ These birds not meant to fly alone.”
“SLOWDIVE”- The next song is a slower-paced, beat-focused song. The lyrics follow this spiraling descent: “Slowdive, sink into the feeling/ Hold tight, you're drowning in the days/ Wanna swim right but the peace and quiet is comforting.” So far, I believe our author feels more comfortable suffering and spiraling rather than thriving and trying. I feel like, despite the lyrics telling a story of drowning, it's in fact about drowning in depression rather than drowning in water. This spiral into this depression seems to be caused by rejection from someone they saw more than a friend: “Can't give you what you need/ You know it's hard enough to breathe/ Not what you're looking for/ But you don't see me anymore/ And it's a heartbreak.”
“TIME IS HAPPENING”- This song has a very dreamy and surreal vibe before quickly turning into something more indie rock. The lyrics are about someone who's looking back on their past, seeing their friends come and go as their life continues. A normal experience as people slowly start to grow up: “Time is happening/ Ever-passing me/ Circle back again/ Lost my only friend.”
“MAGIC MAN”- This last entry completely digs into the surreal and dream-like world the album has created. It's the same vibe the entire time and really has no change-up of indie rock elements. As for the lyrics, I believe the “MAGIC MAN” the song talks about is the personification of perseverance: “Following the signs so you make it in time for the show/ Wandering the world/ but the world's got a plan of its own/ Never be afraid/ just remember what he said when you go.” I believe the person in the song looks towards the Magic Man in guidance for help when they're struggling: “Suddenly, a spark in the night when you're tired of the load, Loved you from the start when a place in your heart was a hole/ Never be afraid, just remember what he said when you go, Always in the wind while you're sipping through the hands that you hold.”
My Final Thoughts: My final thoughts on the album are that it's a beautiful master craft of a collage of genres put into one spectacular album. From how I interpreted the lyrics, the album is about the many thoughts and emotions that someone experiences throughout their younger years of life, as well as some mental hardships a lot of people go through at this early juvenile stage. In my opinion, this album deserves to win Rock Album of the Year.
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