On May 26th, 2021, Baltimore, Maryland hardcore band Turnstile introduced the world to their latest single, titled “MYSTERY.” The track is their first release since 2020’s “Share A View” EP and their first new material since their 2018 album “Time and Space.”
There’s always been something unique about this band, a special quality to their music that gets listeners hooked immediately. While their debut album, 2016’s “Nonstop Feeling” is phenomenal, the aforementioned “Time and Space” is considered their breakout release, truly putting them on the map in the worlds of punk and hardcore and beyond.
Their long-awaited return has finally come, in the form of “MYSTERY”, which has an ethereal-feeling opening filled with synths before the signature Turnstile guitar riffs kick in. Vocalist Brendan Yates sounds better than ever, mixing cleaner deliveries with aggression to constantly keep the listener guessing.
There are moments where the instruments drop out almost completely, being played softer to allow Yates’ vocals to take center stage. Turnstile has been called “genre-bending” before, and this song definitely confirms that claim, with influences from hardcore, punk, classic rock, electronic, and more all being present.
It isn’t exactly clear what this track is about lyrically. There are lines dripping with existentialism and confusion, like “There's a clock in my head, is it wrong? Is it right? / I know you're scared of running out of time” and “I believe in holding onto life / But I'm afraid to.”
The chorus of “And it's been so long / Is all the mystery gone?” in particular made me think about the return to live music and touring that is coming up on the horizon - will the concept of live music be everything that we remember it being? Will we still love and experience it the same way? Or has it been too long, and is all the mystery gone?
Luckily, Turnstile didn’t leave much room to ponder these questions, planning a three-date run with Never Ending Game and Show Me The Body spanning a trio of cities in California (tickets went on sale yesterday at 3:00 PM EST). The band is also booked for multiple festival dates throughout the remainder of this year and into 2022, including Firefly, Louder Than Life, Knotfest, and Primavera Sound.
“MYSTERY” ends the same way that it started, with those fantastical sounding synths from the beginning, bookending the track perfectly. The band says it best - they described this song as them “searching for beauty and finding peace in the unknown as they reject the notion of normal...For Turnstile, there is no normal, only their truth, and the endless possibility of magic when you remain open to the truth of others; singing praise to the infinite mysteries of the universe.”
Turnstile’s latest single “MYSTERY” is available to stream wherever you listen to music, along with the rest of their discography. You can grab tickets to their newly announced shows on their website, and you can support the band by picking up some merch, also on their website.
To keep up with Turnstile, you can follow them on Twitter @TurnstileHC, Instagram @TurnstileTribe, and Facebook @TurnstileHC; this blog can be found on Twitter @StrawbSkiesBlog, Instagram @StrawberrySkiesBlog, and Facebook @StrawberrySkiesBlog. If you listened to their new song, be sure to let me know what you thought by tweeting me at @JENSESSlON!
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