Premier Jester aren’t afraid to mix genres. Since the release of their earliest singles ‘PJ Lovers’ and ‘Sales King’, the UK band have shared an energy driven sound that takes the guts of metalcore and splices its aggressive edge to a world of electronica and dance sounds, but also throws in a bit of retro alternative and some big choruses to create something huge. In many ways, their best work sounds like Electric Callboy, but steered in a slightly more accessible direction. As you might expect, such intensities work brilliantly in short bursts, making PJ masters of the digital single.

‘Turn You On’, in many ways, makes good on the promise of the pre-release singles, but the band’s energy doesn’t necessarily translate quite as directly over a long-playing format. However, most of the album’s ten songs sound great when approached individually – right to the point where pretty much any of them could’ve previously been issued as a stand-alone track.

The album’s opener, ‘Slow Dance’ is an obvious highlight, and for those who’ve not previously experienced the Premier Jester sound, provides a perfect snapshot of their crushing crossover noise. Some genuinely dense riffs emerge almost instantly on the track, and in doing so, it has a sense of the immediate when aiming to attract an alt-metal crowd. Playing like a blend of doom and metalcore, the riffs come with a speaker-busting intensity, and the emerging vocals capture a similar anger, whilst a pulsing synth accentuates the band’s love of crossover sounds. Moving into the first verse, everything takes on a pure metalcore stance, but those looking for a touch more melody should be attracted to a strong chorus hook where clean vocals and heavier synths share a sound that comes across like a more intense Linkin Park. Eventually, the two opposing styles collide on the second verse, with the heavy and pneumatic elements coloured by stabbed synths. In case the more prominent synths suggest Premier Jester are lightening up, an insanely heavy middle eight is on hand, blending a hardcore breakdown with melodic death metal growls, before the track is ultimately sold by one more hit from a great chorus. It’s a hard act to follow.

Keeping the energy high, ‘The Gamer’ opens with pulsing electronica, hinting at the band’s love of danceable sounds, before exploding into a world of metalcore where absolutely insane, sharp-edged guitar work collides with a deep growl. As before, there’s a massive u-turn into a chorus where pop and emo take a dominant role, and a clean vocal introduces a more commercial edge. Not that this is completely commercial: a relentless pulsebeat borrowing from old gabba adjacent sounds pushes everything into the realms of the intense, and it’s great to hear PJ sliding effortlessly into something that isn’t far removed from the world of Electric Callboy. The brilliant ‘Invincible’ finds the band venturing further into metal with the help of a crushing groove and an industrial edge that recalls a couple of old Static-X tracks, and the number’s rousing edge is accentuated further with a very strong hook that feels designed for crowd participation. Despite the heavier sound, there’s still a great melodic element here too, with bits of the number showcasing a blanket of synths and a clean voice leaning into something that feels vaguely emo-friendly. This, again, shows how unafraid Premier Jester are when it comes to throwing everything they love into a giant melting pot. It’s testament to their talents that it all retains such a great focus.

Offering something a little more frivolous, ‘PJ Party’ blends electronic beats and quasi-rap vocals to share something spiky yet trashy – a vague throwback to Bloodhound Gang with added electronic interests – before exploding with a dense sounding chorus that could be an Andrew WK homage. Ensuring this never feels utterly disposable, the heavier elements sound absolutely thrilling, falling somewhere between hardcore and groove metal, giving the band’s rhythm section one of its most intense workouts. When heard as part of this album, this track is outshone by ‘Invincible’, but on its own merits, its a really intense affair, a genuine call-to-arms that could be a fan favourite. Unfortunately, the excitement and goodwill this helps to build is quickly swept away by the dance-centric ‘V.I.P’ which mixes utterly disposable lyrics with a delivery that sounds like a joke band, clearly taking the Premier Jester party spirit to an extreme that just doesn’t work. At least not until somewhere around the two minute mark when a devastating middle eight sounds like early Korn colliding with the most intense industral act ever. Regrettably, the change for the better is brief: returning to a world of throwaway dance beats and lyrics that rhyme “missy, missy” with “kissy, kissy”, this is definitely this album’s low ebb. Given how much potential the PJ sound has shown up to this point, it’s a pity the band would resort to such a lowbrow approach, but this is the only major blip on an otherwise very interesting disc.

‘Pac-ed Out’, accentuates the electronica elements once again, firstly via an atmospheric, heavily filtered intro, and then with the help of a hard edged pre-chorus loaded with dance beats – and this time around, this sets the band a little further apart from their closest peers thanks to a little more melody. Lovers of the band’s metalcore blasts aren’t short changed, of course, and there are some absolutely brutal breakdowns to be found here, with Premier Jester really pushing their pneumatic edges, coupled with an insane hardcore vocal courtesy of harsh vocalist Jimmy Martin, who sounds awesome when going head to head with Jonah Pritchard’s unrelenting guitar riffs. In terms of sharing something a touch more accessible, the chorus is huge. A brilliant showcase for the synths, beats and clean vocals from Joe Yates (“clean” but hidden under a world of filters), the melody calls back to early Linkin Park, but serves up something that isn’t just much bigger sounding, but also comes with a massive alt-pop hook that contrasts the band’s heavier excesses perfectly. In short, this is a great track. Almost as cool, and offering the first time listener something far more commercial, ‘Sales King’ kicks off with a confrontational blast of metalcore, but then takes a dramatic twist into an alternative but radio friendly chorus where the pop punk charms of Simple Plan are at the forefront. The use of clean vocals here, alongside a hugely buoyant melody, creates something catchy in the extreme, and by introducing a little more modern pop to compliment the electronica elements during the middle eight, everything leads towards another stand-out track.

At the end of the record ‘Wunderbar’ continues to mine what seems to be becoming a trademark sound for Premier Jester, but if anything, it works a much more intense riff during its heavier moments. In some ways, this could expand their fanbase by appealing to a less adventurous ear or two, but the greatness of the main riff shouldn’t be undervalued, since it absolutely slays! Bringing an important melodic balance, a clean vocal drives another lighter, emo-inflected chorus, while the later part of this short blast puts more of a focus on a busy synth line, showcasing more of the crossover aspects of the Premier Jester sound. If you’ve connected with a few of the other tracks on ‘Turn You On’, you’ll find a lot to love here.

At the point where it started to feel as if metal had nowhere new to venture, Premier Jester have taken the crossover sounds of Cober Mouth and Pendulum, and mashed them together with some really intense metalcore to create something very smart, potentially more user-friendly in places than Electric Callboy whom, at the time of this release, are PJ’s only genuine close comparison. While the results do not always translate into something that can be enjoyed over a prolonged period, this fusion of styles creates something brilliantly punchy that serves the individual tracks very effectively, making ‘Turn You On’ a very interesting listen indeed. With at least seven absolute bangers within the ten track, thirty five minute experience, this is definitely worth the time.

April 2026