New Turnstile first listen with Willow

Plus May’s cake of the month

Willow and I laying on the floor, me on the acupressure mat, to take in the new Turnstile album

I have cultivated a space of treats, and I have cultivated a space of relaxation. Here we are, Willow and I, relaxing hard. How lucky to get to relax after the whole rest of my life. That’s the type of thinking we’re after these days. And another stroke of luck, Turnstile has released their new album today, Friday, June 6, 2025. I have decided to share some first impressions in an effort to take part in a larger community discussion as its happening.

Now these impressions are nothing so unique, and there are dozens of people getting paid to share their opinion on this topic, but here at DID Blog, we’re simply making an exercise of living in the present and processing something in realtime. DID keeps you living in the past—even when such treasures as a new Turnstile album await here in the present.

So what are my thoughts? I liked it! Excited to dig in more! It’s a pretty similar sound to their previous album, the smash hit Glow On, but with some new twists and turns. All the aesthetics and themes are there, we’re exploring light and dark, we’re hard, we’re soft, there’s loss, there’s acceptance.

I don’t know the full critical reception, but Adam, an avid music news reader, was letting me know that some listeners feel it’s too similar to their last album. Hmph. This is always a strange criticism to me. Is having a consistent artistic voice a problem? I feel like they as Turnstile delivered on their promise to me, the fan, by giving me more Turnstile, which I happen to love. Is that not what we ask for from artists? I love your shit, more shit but updated?

The other great thing about the new album is, like every new album, it’s got all new lyrics. I feel like singer Brendan Yates’ immaculate lyrics are typically overshadowed by the fact that the band gives such dreamy vibes and rocks so fucking hard, the main factors to which I’d credit their massive following.

To be fair, the heavy vocal effects obscure lots of words, and I don’t expect the average person to be reading along to the lyrics. It’s just a shame because like everything else about the band, they’re carefully chosen and so on-brand. To hear his gentle, dark-but-hopeful, stripped-down takes on huge new topics such as “DREAMING” and “BIRDS” is a real treat. I think he has really unique viewpoint.

Those are my thoughts, and hey, here’s the cake I owe you from May, you thought I forgot? Why, is it because I have DID and DID systems are notoriously forgetful due to their dissociative amnesia? I’d actually argue we personally don’t forget so much as we have set this piece of information down for later in another location not accessible to us right now. With me, it’s just that I haven’t gotten to it yet, kind of like I described above. Please allow extra time for processing.

Rhubarb upside down cake

Also it wasn’t that thrilling a cake, to be honest. They can’t all be, I guess. This one here is quite a simple affair from Food and Wine, which actually turned out better than I expected. It’s an upside-down cake format, in which you put fruit toppings (as well as lots of butter and sugar) in the pan first then top with cake batter. At the end, you flip it upside-down and the fruit creates a lovely design on top.

Sorry to have doubted you due to the fact that I am a snob, Food and Wine, and the fact that yellow cakes are notoriously difficult to formulate. This was a moist and satisfyingly orange zest-infused cake topped with tart rhubarb that did not stick to the pan or have any unabsorbed gunk on the bottom or anything like that. I report no production issues and a pleasing taste.

I guess it’s pretty cool, I don’t know. I’m not sure why I’m harboring resentment. Been “doing the work” in therapy, and as Turnstile says, “…now I’m free, free, free, free, free, free / No one left to be, be, be, be, be, be.” So there’s no need for something like resentment to be hanging around, especially not in regards to the rhubarb cake. Goodbye until I’m back.