Written by Caleigh May
Peripheral Vision, only the second studio album released by the band Turnover, is one of my favorites of all time. I am now a sophomore here at Arkansas and have been listening to this exact album from the band every fall/winter since my freshman year of high school. This is just one of those albums that you can never get tired of, at least it’s obvious I never did!
Peripheral Vision was released on May 4th of 2015 under Run for Cover Records, which notably
released other popular albums like Tigers Jaw self titled album, Pinegroves Everything so far, and Citizens Youth. Peripheral vision compared to the other listed albums follows the dream pop/indie genre with staples of the genre being buried vocals, a reverb-drenched vibe, and a mix of electric guitar and synthesizers. This album’s predecessor “Magnolia” the pop punk side of turnover sounds like almost a completely different band (i do also recommend it, its so good!). The switch Turnover made from Magnolia to Peripheral Vision launched them to the top 100 billboard, with it peaking at #4 on the chart leading to the release instantly making itself the album that gained them the popularity they have today, and made them one of the most well known dream-pop/indie bands.
Peripheral Vision encompasses multiple different meanings like, heartbreak and closure, unattachment/depersonalization and longing for people. The musical style of the album and the meaning behind the songs are a perfect match for those types of meanings. Each track captures a different view on these experiences. What seems to make this album of theirs stand out compared to their other ones is how the instruments and lyrics are perfectly paired with each other to encompass a certain emotion. The pensive reverb with the ethereal vocals forms the longing and nostalgic sound that make the listeners feel deep emotions like yearning (men who yearn are men who earn), and bittersweet acceptance. The album consists of bangers and even more bangers. To list a couple of my favorites would be pointless because they literally all are! But if I had to pick two of them that I couldn’t live without it would be “Dizzy On the Comedown” and “Diazepham”.
“Dizzy On the Comedown”, can take on two different views to me. On one hand, a more simplified version, I can see it as the narrator wanting to be in the corners of their partner’s mind, see the ins and outs of who they are as a person. The lyrics “I want to know about you, I’m spinning all around you” show how badly the narrator wants to understand the partner and just constantly be surrounded by them. On the other hand I can see this song with an alternative meaning, that being that, the narrator wants to keep the intoxication of a new relationship constant, and the partner has kind of let the, dare I say dizziness of the relationship wear off. So lyrics like “I’ve been dying to get you dizzy, Find a way up into your head, So I can make you feel like new again”. The narrator wants to keep from coming down from the ‘high’ of the relationship, but seems to have the knowledge that the partner doesn’t feel the same.
“Diazepham” can kind of bounce off “dizzy on the comedown” which focuses on the narrator’s all encompassing love, ‘Diazepham’ shifts that focus to the unhealthiness of that type of relationship. Singing about the narrator’s love reflecting his anxiety and depression. The Narrator clings to their partner but knows that the narrator himself cannot give that type of love back even when he tries. With the repeating lyrics “I don’t know if ill be there for you” the narrator clearly has the uncertainty of not being able to care for their partner the same way that they do.
Peripheral Vision is an album that I would recommend to anyone, anytime and anywhere. Finding this album when I did was probably catastrophic for my little high school self but we made it out. This is definitely the first album that anyone should listen to first if they want to get into dream-pop or even if you just got out of breakup, the narrator shows many different perspectives on looking at past relationships with guilt, helpless reasoning and acceptance.