Turnstile – Never Enough

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How exactly does a band that has blown up as much as Turnstile has these past four years follow up the breakaway success of Glow On? By simply going bigger, bolder, and recognizing that there is Never Enough Turnstile music in this world. Never Enough is now the fourth studio album from the Baltimore-based hardcore band, and the set was produced by lead vocalist Brendan Yates, veteran hitmaker Will Yip, and the English record producer A.G. Cook. You can feel a bit of each producer’s stamp on this record, with Yates’ influence coming in the strongest of the three. The promotional period of this new era of Turnstile kicked off in March when billboards around Los Angeles were donned with the album name of Never Enough paired with the sky-blue aesthetic of the cover art. The band announced a release date shortly thereafter of June 6th, 2025, and also recognized guitarist Meg Mills as a permanent member of Turnstile. Much like many other key artists have done recently, Turnstile accompanied Never Enough with a feature-length visual companion that hit theaters yesterday. While some of the highs of this record are not quite as breathtaking as what was found on Glow On, Never Enough re-solidifies Turnstile as the most creative band in the hardcore genre. The possibilities seem limitless for this talented artist who continues to find new and interesting ways to convey the right emotions and messaging through their unique music.

The set has already spawned three singles in the opening title track, “Seein’ Stars/Birds”, and most recently the sprawling, nearly seven-minute opus of “Look Out For Me.” “Never Enough” sets the LP out on the right course with some swooning keyboards/synths in the early stages of the song, while Yates repeats the initial verse of “Running from yourself now / Can’t hear what you’re told / Never let your guard down / Anywhere you go /In the right place, at the right time / And still you sink into the floor.” The guitars and synths are much more interesting than the lyrics for this lead single, and the live performance-based music video showcases the energy that comes through when the band plays it live.

”Sole” is a much heavier song that follows up the dreamy opener, and gets back to the steady riffing that dominated the middle section of Glow On with similar results. Patrick McCrory cements himself as the record’s MVP, as his guitar parts are simultaneously aggressive, up-front in the production, and sonically captivating. On “I Care,” Turnstile get back into a near-80’s new wave pop groove, that feels almost a hardcore version of the Ah-Ha classic, “Take On Me.” It gets back its teeth in the pre-chorus of, “All because you know I care / All because you know I’m there” that bleeds brilliantly into the hook of, “But do you really wanna fall apart? / And do you really wanna break my heart in two?” Yates takes well-constructed lyrics in the verses to build up to the chorus in a creative fashion.

”Dreaming” offers some more contrast to the stylistic choices made on the record, by starting off cautiously and then spiraling out of control into the first few bars of instrumental music that even features some triumphant trumpets into the mix. It’s one of the more interesting songs on the LP, as it showcases the risks Turnstile are willing to make to accelerate their creative development as artists.

The middle section of the album begins with the dreamy synths of “Light Design” that bellow over the mix with a pulsating bass line from Franz Lyons. The steady hand behind the drum kit supplied by Daniel Fang makes for a trusted source of percussion in the mix. “Dull” does everything in its power to be antithesis to its title, as it begins with faint guitars and Yates vocals in the forefront, before Yates explodes into, “I’m going dull!” The band doesn’t offer too much variety from the song structure here, but it still feels like an important song in the sequencing. “Sunshower” closes out the front side of the record with a speedy punk rock while adding some stark sound contrast with the synth-laden bridge. It’s a bit of a jarring transition between styles, but somehow Turnstile is talented enough to make it feel less forced.

The second side of the LP begins with Never Enough’s longest song in the experimental hardcore-synth of “Look Out For Me.” It ended up being one of my favorite Turnstile songs not only on this album, but in general. The band’s ability to convey different emotions through the insightful mental health lyrics of “Better late than never, so I’ll spend some time away / Twenty-four hours ain’t the day it used to be / Standing in the corner with the things I never said / Not a lot of reason when your brain’s gone to your head.” In the middle section of the song, Turnstile get back to the dreamscape synths and distant vocals from Yates to put the listener in a near-trance state.

They follow this up with their shortest song in “Ceiling” that has some strange vocal effects on Yates’ approach, as it almost sounds like he’s going into a higher vocal register early on. The song quickly fades into another 80’s new wave type of song called “Seein’ Stars,” that would have meshed well in the radio mix found on Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and features some guest vocals from Hayley Williams. The song is pretty thin, lyrically, but the dual-single has an excellent guitar solo from McCrory and is paired with “Birds” as the second part of the track. On “Birds,” Yates ponders over a riff-heavy guitar part, “I was told that love and death / Go hand in hand / When you find / Is when you understand.” The song is a pretty cool head-banger in the instrumental breakdown towards the tail end of the track, and is sure to be a crowd favorite.

”Slowdive” rocks along with some steady riffing from Mills/McCrory, while Yates does his best to remain interesting in his vocals as he croons, “Slowdive, sink into the feeling / Hold tight, you’re drowning in the days / Wanna swim right but the peace and quiet is comforting / On my way down, did you hear me when I called?” The song has a bit of a Nu-Metal feel to it, but when the tempo changes towards the middle of the track, Turnstile quickly put their full personality into it. The opening riff on “Time Is Happening” reminded me a lot of early-Green Day, while Yates improved vocal approach in the second verse of, “Time to let you know / Arms will let you go / So I nod and wave / Kissed and pulled away,” feels like a pop-centered style to lay over a punk rock song. It surprisingly works.

”Magic Man” closes out the fourth chapter in the book of Turnstile with grace and poise. The synth-heavy song feels almost overpowering in its delivery, and the second verse to chorus transition is seamless as Yates carefully sings, “Suddenly, a spark in the night when you’re tired of the load / Loved you from the start when a place in your heart was a hole / Never be afraid, just remember what he said when you go / Always in the wind while you’re slipping through the hands that you hold/ Oh, magic man.”

By the time this 14-track, 45-minute plus record wraps up, you’re likely already looking for the replay button to take you back on the thrilling journey that happens from start to finish. While not as immediately gratifying as Glow On, Never Enough finds Turnstile taking enough big swings to keep fans both old and new coming back to see what this Baltimore hardcore band will delve into next.

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