"I Wasn't Ready" by Turn Off the Stars, Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Today I'm going to recommend an album rather than just one song. This is the fourth song I've featured by Canadian Christian Rock band Turn Off the Stars, and as they were together for only a short time and didn't document everything on social media, I've run out of fun facts about the band. Sometimes I like riffing on the theme of one song, but it's a cold day in January, so I think that a deep dive in this particularly cold, moody record is perfect for early January. I'll also post links to the three other tracks I've talked about this album, so you can read up about other interesting details about the band and their record label, along with some of my cringy fiction. First, I'll post the album. I'm sharing in Apple Music today, because the interface is cleaner for this particular album. If you would prefer to listen in Spotify, I'll post it here.

1. "I Wasn't Ready" The album opens with instrumentation that sounds like nature sounds in the Great White North. Today's song talks about a spiritual revival coming on suddenly. The guitar solo and singer Michael Walker's voice blend together nicely during the bridge. This song was featured in Season 2 of ABC Family's Smallville knock-off series Kyle XY.

2. "Please" would be a pop song, but the guitars are a little too heavy. It sounds sort of like a '90s pop-rock song, maybe Tonic, Vertical Horizon, or Third Eye Blind. You can hear the desperation in Michael Walker's falsetto, and this song sounds like it would have been an excellent loft-scene to close out an episode of Smallville, if the album were released a few years earlier.

3. "Falling Into You" On the Everything Is OK EP version of this song, the second track "Falling Into You" is clearly a worship song. On the LP, it's left a little more ambiguous. 

4. "Hours and Days" brings an extra layer of moodiness to the album. The song is about monotony and waiting for something to change. Musically, Michael Walker's vocals might be a little too much for some. He sounds a bit mumbly or even like he's eating something and trying to sing. I think it's an interesting effect, but it might be too much for some listeners.

5. "30 Days" starts with the line "You walk into a room/ it's cold as hell" which was a little bit shocking for a Christian album. Hell is supposed to be hot, right? Actually, the Viking version of hell is a cold. Also, Dante's Inferno is hot in the outer layers but freezing on the inside where Brutus, Cassius, and  Judas are turned upside down.  "30 Days" is kind of a boring song, but the cold atmosphere of the song works for today.

6. "Getaway" is the first Turn Off the Stars song I blogged about. It's a moody acoustic ballad that gives way to an atmospheric guitar solo. 

7. "Nowhere Skies" is a solid middle track. Good for a clear, cold January day, "Nowhere Skies" makes me think about trudging around in the snow in central New York during winter break when mom said, "Go outside and play."

8. "Lately" sounds like it could be a forgettable late '90s middle track.

9. "Usual to Me" sounds so Canadian. "Meet with you for tea" is not a line in any American song. This is the other song that I envision being in an early season of Smallville. 

10. "If Only" has some nice guitar work, but at this point in the album, we're getting a little tired of anthems. Maybe it should have come earlier in the track list.

11. "Brightside" is the album's acoustic closer. It makes sure that the moody record closes with hope in a kind of neo-Brit pop style. 

I might do more of these album reactions in the future if I love the song, but don't have much to say about it. I wonder if there are other fans of this album?

Read “Brightside” by Turn Off The Stars on Genius