It has been little more than a year since Turnstile released Never Enough, the Baltimore peri-hardcore band’s fourth studio album. Following the mainstream breakthrough of 2021’s Glow On, the band has navigated a whirlwind of success, from Grammy wins to high-profile commercial placements. Now, they return with Never Enough: Versions, a remix project that serves as a testament to their genre-defying ambition.
A Festival-Sized Collaboration
Never Enough: Versions positions Turnstile within an elite club of artists—including Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, and Paramore—who have embraced the remix album as a creative playground. The guest list is staggering, reading like a curated festival lineup. It balances local Baltimore luminaries like Rod Lee and Brandon Woody with heavy hitters like Dying Fetus, Julien Baker, and Hayley Williams.
Genre-Bending Transformations
The sequencing of the album mimics the chaotic, exhilarating experience of a festival day. Listeners are whisked from the AM-gold synth pop of Panda Bear to the brutal, percussive assault of Dying Fetus. The juxtaposition is intentional, highlighting the band’s willingness to let their songs be deconstructed and rebuilt. A standout moment arrives with Hayley Williams’ take on “Ceiling.” While the original was a brief, atmospheric interlude, Williams transforms it into a lush, balearic torch song, proving that the band’s core songwriting is sturdy enough to withstand radical reinvention.
The Jazz and Electronic Alchemy
While the electronic contributions from artists like Floating Points and Four Tet provide expected, high-energy dancefloor moments, it is the jazz-influenced tracks that truly surprise. Brandon Woody and Shabaka Hutchings inject a sophisticated, third-stream energy into the material, bridging the gap between post-hardcore intensity and post-bop improvisation. Ultimately, Never Enough: Versions suggests that Turnstile views their catalog as a living, breathing American songbook, capable of sustaining any vision, no matter how audacious.