Some albums capture a particular moment in a band’s life. Push & Turn’s Chillin, Mn has a much bigger timeline behind it.
The Rochester and Minneapolis reggae-fusion group has been making music together since 2009, building their sound through years of live shows before releasing their debut album Rise Up in 2023. Their second album feels like a bridge between everything they’ve learned along the way and the places they still want to explore.
At its foundation is the reggae-rock sound Push & Turn have spent years developing, but Chillin, Mn refuses to stay neatly inside it. Funk, blues and jam influences have long been part of the band’s identity, and this time they pushed themselves to bring in ideas from genres that might not immediately seem like obvious partners for reggae.
The result is a record that can change direction surprisingly quickly. “Not This Time” introduces an almost indie-pop quality, while “Only One” moves towards psychedelia. “Drift Away” contains moments inspired by the spacious sound of Pink Floyd, and “Give It Away” even briefly edges towards country. Those shifts aren’t about abandoning the band’s roots. Instead, they show how much room Push & Turn have found inside them.
The album also reaches much further back into their history. “Stand Up” has existed in Push & Turn’s live world for close to two decades and has regularly served as the finale to their performances. “Blue Sky” has been around for a similarly long time, evolving considerably before finally reaching this recorded version. Newer material such as “Chillin” and “Only One” then sits alongside songs that have essentially grown up with the musicians themselves.
That mixture makes Chillin, Mn feel less like a snapshot and more like a collection of different points in the band’s story.
Live performance is a huge part of that history. Push & Turn have played festivals throughout the Midwest, including more than ten appearances at Shangri-La Music Festival, while sharing stages with artists including Smash Mouth, Mihali, Wookiefoot and The Big Wu. Their latest album also received a hometown push with a Rochester release celebration in August.
Recent releases have shown that their recorded audience is growing too, with “Been Waiting” and “Do U Juana” adding momentum around this latest era.
But Chillin, Mn works because it doesn’t sound like a band suddenly trying to reinvent itself. Instead, Push & Turn have taken years of friendship, performances, and musical experimentation and finally given all those different sides somewhere to meet.
After nearly two decades of playing some of these songs, that’s what makes the album feel earned.
https://open.spotify.com/album/7eBoKTVcIIpbeuwPFKB6uc?si=N-H7NjunQZmGyVJ86qtkGg
