Reinvention is arguably necessary for the career of any band to progress, and it’s something the emo scene has caught onto en masse in the last few years. Bands like Citizen and Balance And Composure’s most recent albums acted as their first steps into more polished, less accessible territories. While these albums were more than competent at starting the next evolutionary stage for both bands, they both took time to fully adjust to, and suspicions began to arise surrounding the motives behind them; aside from the expected “sellout” jibes, there were genuine questions of trendhopping being asked by their fanbases. In terms of Turnover’s reinvention, their new guise fits them so well that it’s hard to believe they formed to make any other kind of music, and there have been no such qualms about them trying to be like everyone else. Their incredible 2015 record Peripheral Vision presented a Turnover who’d had a shoegaze makeover, with no rough edges to be heard. Peripheral Vision has since become something of a cult classic, and news of a follow-up earlier this year left followers positively salivating at the prospect of more.
Good Nature, said follow-up, further solidifies the identity Turnover have built in the last few years. In fact, it’s pushed further by a collection of pretty, chilled-out tracks that are all too easy to lose yourself in, with singer Austin Getz’s gorgeous voice leading the way into the bliss. Every instrumental aspect is supportive and constructive – guitars become more simplistic to show off the vocals and vice versa, and everything comes together to rise and fall to create a seeping, quiet euphoria that’s wrapped itself around your little finger before you’ve even realised it. The fleshed out, intricate textures of Sunshine Type and Pure Devotion are embellished by warm harmonics and irresistible understated vocal flourishes – telling of the thought that has gone into something that sounds so effortless on the face of it.
Comparisons to Peripheral Vision will probably inform most fan opinions on Good Nature, and there are notable differences between the two. Good Nature is much more mellow than its predecessor, and a lot less of the focus is on creating the Peripheral Vision-esque vocal hooks than on walls of immersive sound. There are songs you can instantly sing along to like Super Natural, What Got In The Way and standout Curiosity (which emulates the heart-pounding euphoria given out by Humming on their last record), but Turnover are clearly more focused on pushing their sound how they want to, regardless of instant accessibility. The sound is so consistent throughout Good Nature that any change-ups stick out like a sore thumb, like Pure Devotion’s slightly too plodding pace that drains it of character or All That It Ever Was sounding slightly like Turnover covering a Britpop song in the most endearing way. This consistency also makes it seem that there are only a handful of tracks that can be listened to alone, without the rest of the running order to back them up. This isn’t due to any weakness on their part (although the standouts on this album are obvious), just that listening to the album start to finish rather than choice cuts enhances the overall soothing effect.
It just doesn’t feel right to pick apart Good Nature and judge every single aspect individually. From that viewpoint, many of these songs, particularly at the album’s tail end, pale in comparison to Super Natural, Sunshine Type and Curiosity. But as a collective, this is music that’s warm, familiar and designed to make you smile like a mug of hot chocolate. It might be dismissed for not being Peripheral Vision, but take Good Nature as its own entity and the next step in Turnover’s evolution and you might be surprised.
7/10
For fans of: Title Fight, Citizen, Balance And Composure
Words by Georgia Jackson
‘Good Nature’ by Turnover is released on 25th August on Run For Cover Records.
