Band : Frank Turner
Album Title : England Keep My Bones
Label : Epitaph
Distributor : PIAS
Release date : 06/06/2011
Release : CD

As a follow-up to the teaser-EP Rock & Roll, which was issued in December of last year, we now finally get Frank Turner's latest and 4th solo album onto our plate. A short update on what happened since?...because the guy's been réally busy, you know!

You see, first the finishing touches were put to the album, and in early April Frank did a couple of acoustic solo sets in Germany, following that up with a solo tour of the UK during May (20 gigs in 22 days). On March 29 Frank's UK label Xtra Mile Recordings released the album track “I Am Disappeared”. First single to the album would be “Peggy Sang the Blues”, issued April 25(a video for the song would now be available on the band's YouTube). Thanks to a vigorous campaign pushed by management and (UK) label towards pre-ordering the album, England Keep My Bones entered the UK Albums Charts at #6 on the release date (in the couple of days since it's slipped down to #10 though).

Now what can I say about Frank's material that hasn't already been said in the review of the aforementioned EP (posted on 23/02 of this year), or in the review of his previous album (posted 17/09/2009)? Well, perhaps England Keep My Bones (a reference to Shakespeare's The Life And Death Of King John, by the way) is a bit ballsier than its predecessors. Don't get me wrong: there's still plenty of acoustic passages and songs, but overall there's perhaps a bit more “Punk” injections thanks to an increased use of electric guitar. But what with piano being used a lot as well, the overall atmosphere stays well within the “Folk” realm nevertheless! At the time of writing (11/06), Frank and his band already have a threesome of German gigs under their belt, and tomorrow they'll be playing at the Download Festival. After a couple of Austrian shows (one a spot at the Augarten festival), the band sets off on a short European tour (gigs in Holland, Germany, Denmark, and France) with Social Distortion, playing a couple of extra shows in between. Which brings us into the beginning of the Summer holidays, and the festival season (for further details, check the band's MySpace).

Hey, you know, there's two full-length songs off the album (alongside a bunch of older songs off the other albums) for you to check at (www.) myspace.com/frankturner. Those among you wanting more will either have to check out the samples of the other 10 songs at one of the trusted online sales sites (Amazon, iTunes), or try to get a listening session at the local record shop, or check out the band in live conditions. Personal appreciation? Well, as you can see my rating has gone up somewhat!

93/100

Tony.