ALBUM REVIEW: Altogether by Turnover

Nov 10, 2019Nov 10, 2019 AnnaMarie Otor 0 Comments

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WRITTEN BY: Hannah Kay

It’s hard to believe that the Turnover that released Altogether this year is the same Turnover that released their debut LP Magnolia back in 2013. At the beginning of the decade Turnover were another band entering the fray of emo revival-era bands (like Basement and Citizen, who also formed in 2009). Now, they are potentially one of the most creative, talented, and unique-sounding groups in the indie music scene. The release of Altogether coincides with their tenth year together as a band, and it couldn’t be a better example of how far they’ve come sonically from the moody, gritty emo of their early days to their current dreamy, pop-like sound.

Their fourth full-length LP together as a band, Altogether is proof every new entry in their discography is like another twist of their sonic kaleidoscope – Peripheral Vision cast them in cool, subdued hues from their new spacious sound. Good Nature blended bright pinks from bright, reverb-soaked guitars into a watercolored mosaic, and Altogether has made the next stop in this living art piece a lavender-colored basement show if that basement show was actually a jazz lounge (but still in someone’s basement).

Frontman and lead guitar Austin Getz, drummer Casey Getz, and bassist Danny Dempsey have teamed up with producer (and Temple University alum!) Will Yip once again for this record – and the only way that partnership could have led to an end result that was anything short of masterful is if they hadn’t collaborated with him. Yip, who produced, engineered, mixed, and performed on the record, is an unmistakable presence on Altogether. Turnover’s sound is synonymous with Yip’s intricate, deliberate production style at this point. Everything Yip touches has a distinct, ethereal atmosphere to it, and it is never more apparent than it is in his work with Turnover. Their sound and style marry together in a fairytale style wedding, and if Altogether has anything to say about it, they are on a perpetual honeymoon.

Altogether sounds like something from out of a dream; it’s a chill, blissed-out, 10-track cruise on an ocean of good vibes. Turnover mix horns (“Still in Motion”), saxophones (“Ceramic Sky”), and bongos (“Sending Me Right Back”) into their already unique sound for this record, proving that any and every move they make just sounds good. Altogether is a complete maturation of their sound; proof that longevity as a band can translate into growth, not selling out – though, it’d be a shock to see them do that while still signed to Run For Cover Records, the label that has fostered the exploration of their sound since Peripheral Vision.

In almost any other situation, putting a band on such a high pedestal would be catastrophic – egos would explode, and the quality of their art would diminish – but that’s not the case for Turnover and every party involved with the crafting of their art. They truly deserve to have released a record this good, and for it to join the ranks of a discography filled with insanely good music. Each song on Altogether stands out as one strong enough to have been a single promoting it – though the ones they selected (“Still in Motion,” “Number on the Gate,” “Parties,” and “Plant Sugar”) were all excellent choices. They were gentle ways to ease everyone into the sound they would be experimenting with this album cycle, but tracks like “Valley of the Moon” in particular feel like loving callbacks to the previous record Good Nature.

In just about any other situation, putting a band on such a high pedestal would be playing chicken with the ego of a musician – a dangerous thing indeed. However, there are none more deserving of being called such insanely talented musicians than Turnover, whose efforts in creating and releasing Altogether have cumulated in another absolutely killer record. If you’ve never checked out Turnover, it’s not too late – and besides, everyone’s a fan of Turnover, they just don’t know it yet.

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