Confusions continues to evolve with ‘push / back’

There’s a moment early on push / back, the sprawling, experimental new double album from Confusions, in which Benny Turner appears to consider the idea of personal growth. “Some say it’s hard to change,” Turner sings amid the atmospheric synthesizer and low, steadily pulsing drums of “Simply.” “I say you do anyway.”

Turner’s compositions frequently mirror this idea sonically, the songs tending to mutate in subtle ways that suggest an organism going through a series of evolutionary stages. 

At times, this can become something of a balancing act, Turner combining instrumentals that flirt with the more experimental outer edges and lyrics that center around the idea of taking things as they come. “Just be and take it day by day,” the musician offers on one song – a line shaped by the conscious decision Turner made to adopt a more relaxed approach in the studio than they had on earlier recordings.

“I think with Muck of Morale [from 2023], I was really trying to use my music and my platform to say something,” said Turner, whose new double LP releases digitally today (Monday, Dec. 8). “And with [push / back], I was really just goofing around, and I think that was an act of resistance for me. … I’ve talked about Brian Eno as a favorite in probably every interview I’ve done, and I heard him discuss recently how escapism can be a useful tool, because it can help you look at your problems differently. And I think if I didn’t have this stuff getting me in motion, I might not feel as inspired to do some of the other things I’m doing.”

The songs populating push / back generally started with drums and bass, these percussive elements combining to create a rhythm that sparked either a physical response “that made me want to move,” Turner said, or a mental one, with these syncopations conjuring fresh sonic ideas that the musician grew increasingly excited to chase down in their home studio.

Owing to this, there’s a deep elasticity to the sounds explored within, as songs range from murky, noir-ish numbers (the unsettling “Mistold,” built on warped, extruded synths and chilled vocals) to comparatively sunny turns such as “Don’t Need,” a moment of sonic warmth that captures the feel of early spring. Other tracks marry these divergent elements, including “Nosferatu,” a collaboration with Big Fat Head that begins as a low-simmering guitar jam and closes as a haunted instrumental.

“My good friend Caleb Miller, he recently showed me an archive record he’s working on, and I loved that process, where he’s just going to release his archive,” said Turner, who in making the double LP began to revisit the various half-finished and never-released tracks existent on their hard drive. “And so, for me, I tried to take these things that could have existed on totally different days – one could be a lasting experience, and one could be a fleeting emotion I might never feel again – and then I tried to make the transitions work between them. And because of that, I’m not sure how great this one works as a cohesive record, and there’s not really one kind of linear thought. And I wanted to tell myself that with where I’m at, that’s okay.”

Despite Turner’s reservations, the album does feel of a piece, its songs similarly animated by the curiosity and the sense of play with which they were created. And given more time to reflect, Turner acknowledged that there are other throughlines they observed bubbling beneath the surface, seeing in it parallels to the work they have pursued in teaching music.

In a follow-up email sent the day after our early December interview, Turner wrote that the computer they used in recording would be considered “outdated as all get out” by anyone with a passing interest in technology. “My laptop only has four gigs of RAM and will also shut off if it’s not plugged into the wall. I bought my audio interface a decade ago and I am still going places I’ve never been,” wrote Turner, who went on to describe push / back as being in part about the resourcefulness required of this setup but also of their teaching gig, which involves “helping people work with the tools they have.”

In recent years, Turner said, the pull they feel toward assisting others in unlocking their own creative potential has shifted their ambitions in ways they continue to unpack. 

“I think at different points, there was an aspiration to get enough recognition with the music that I could tour with it regularly,” Turner said. “And I think what creating this album has taught me is … that I just want to make this stuff for fun when I’m not teaching and then hope it inspires other people to get interested in music. And I can almost find some of the things I was looking for in this record by doing that.”