Review Summary: The sounds of renewal.
Even from a very young age I never had much drive or passion and was always content to just be. I floated through middle and high school and made my way through my freshman year of college without anything fascinating happening to me. Nothing fascinating until I met the first love of my life that is. After a brief and passionate affair I found myself feeling emptier than ever before; it's hard to go from nothing, to having it all, to nothing again.
Turnover is a band that understands this sort of emptiness better than any other, but more than that, they understand the journey from that emptiness back to life. In just three tracks
Blue Dream delivers a tale of depression, hope, despair, happiness, and melancholy.
The opening track “Disintegration” doles out the feelings of failure that occur after any great tragedy, where every day feels the same and you don’t even feel like existing anymore. A slow and quiet start builds up to an explosive wave of self-hatred in a booming chorus:
Quote:
You wake up, nothing again
Old and broken and tired
Go to sleep all alone
Wake up all alone
If I said that I cared I'd be lying
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The next track, “Read My Mind,” once again delves into this self-hatred while exploring a broken relationship that should have ended long ago. This is perhaps the most honest song I’ve heard Turnover write, where they show all the conflicting emotions that go into loving someone that you feel you don’t deserve. They truly feel bad that they’re dragging their lover down, but at the same time they love that they are loved by her. It’s a vicious cycle of alternating between self-loathing and self-pity that leaves them drained and an emotional wreck. The song culminates in a tangled and intricate guitar solo over blasting drums that mirrors the mess of the lyrics perfectly.
The EP ends with “Bella Donna,” the most upbeat and full sounding track. Coming to terms with their failures and the end of a relationship the band leaves on a hopeful and mature note. This song is a joy to listen to, and being the only song on the EP that predominantly features the full band playing serves as a release to all the pent up anxiety and melancholy.
From emptiness, to pain, to acceptance.
Blue Dream is not a dream but a reflection on moving on. Everything comes to an end eventually; happiness, love, pain, heartbreak, and emptiness are all fleeting and do not last. To listen to a band display this knowledge is a pleasure in and of itself.
