Review
Frank Turner
England Keep My Bones

Despite being on tour, almost constantly, for the past couple of years, once again the affable folk-punk troubadour has found the time to release a new album. This, the fourth solo effort from the ex-Million Dead front man, is quite possibly his most polished work yet as he slowly works towards a sound that fully combines both his folk and punk-rock roots. In doing so, as the title suggests, this album is full of ruminations on his beloved England and the eventuality of death, at times intertwining these two themes.

Opener ‘Eulogy’ is symbolic of this combination of sounds, starting with a more melancholic quality before a burst of bombastic noise as he proclaims, “well at least I fucking tried.” It’s a concise song, at less than two minutes, that disguises Turner’s humility regarding his own work in its anthemic nature. It’s a safe bet that it will appear as the opening number on many a set list in the near future. This segues perfectly into the first single, ‘Peggy Sang the Blues’, a touching tribute to his grandmother. It’s a superb song that treads the line between rock and folk and shows his usual lyrical deftness and wit that has garnered him his ever growing legions of fans. However, it’s a pity that he doesn’t preface it with the whiskey anecdote as he does on tour.

In a time when overt patriotism is far too often equated with far right groups like the BNP or the EDL, Turner’s celebration of England is something of a peculiarity; the album personifies it as something equal to his friends in reminding him of his roots and ,tacitly, keeping his ego in check. The solemn ‘Rivers’ and bouncy ‘If Ever I Stray’ emphasise it as an island whilst the brash ‘One Foot Before the Other’ casts it in a quasi-British Empire light as he imagines his remains seeping from the reservoirs of London to the rest of the world. Oddly, the most overt track about his roots, ‘Wessex Boy’, is the one that probably the most universal in its discussion of returning to your hometown.

This album shows Turner’s attempts to bring folk music to a modern, and more mainstream, audience. “The English Curse” is performed in the style of the medieval folk tradition; the lack of any instruments highlights his lyrical skill and the power of his voice. It may be something of an oddity on the record, but it is definitely a welcome one. It can only be hoped that he puts his history degree to use and creates more songs like this.

As the album draws to the end, it unfortunately is unable to finish as strongly as it started. The duo of ‘Nights Become Days’ and ‘Redemption’ significantly slow the rhythm of the record whilst ‘Glory, Hallelujah’ is a messy and overproduced effort; the effect of the lyrics diminished as a result.

England Keep My Bones is definitely a triumph, further proof of why he is held in such high esteem by his fans. Indeed, this may well be the strongest album that Frank Turner has released so far, but you cannot help but think that he has even better one in him. Regardless he has cemented his position one of the finest songwriters that England has produced in quite some time. Expect even bigger things from him in the near future.