Frank Turner – England Keep My Bones

Frank Turner‘s fourth full length album hits the United Kingdom today (and everywhere else tomorrow). Once again, Turner has put together an inspiring collection. Each song is a stand-out and as a whole, the themes of life and death and love of one’s homeland flow together wonderfully.

I’m blown away by the mastered version of the opening track, “Eulogy”. I had the pleasure of hearing it live a couple times last year and was impressed, but wow. The guitars are massive. I feel like everyone will quote “Eulogy” in their review and they’re right to. It warrants being quoted all over the place and here’s my go at it:

“Peggy Sang the Blues” gets better every time I listen to it. The lyrics are brilliant- every line is essential and worth keeping close to your heart.

“I Am Disappeared” is so sad that I almost can’t bear to listen to it. This sounds dramatic, but it’s true. I suppose it hits a little too close to home. With other sad songs I may get very caught up in a moment or two, but with this one it feels like I’m drowning and I can never quite come up for air. I mean this all as a compliment – it’s rare that a recorded song effects me in this way.

Though I’m sure I’ll fall harder into the tracks that are new to me on this record, I am enjoying the damn find sound of “Wessex Boy” and “If I Ever Stray” and can’t help tapping along. I think these will be stellar live. “One Foot Before the Other” came as a complete surprise to me. It’s dark and heavy, almost too much for Frank’s solo work, but the unexpected is refreshing. “I Still Believe” seems to fit better on England Keep My Bones than the Rock N Roll EP. It is at home amongst the other music and themes that surround it here.

Frank Turner – Wessex Boy

I’d heard live versions of “Redemption” before, but I didn’t expect the final version. I’ve hit repeat on it several times already, trying to wrap my head around the string of lyrics and the heartbreaking emotion behind them.

Frank Turner -Redemption

I realize I’ve gone on for far too long on this album, but hopefully a hint of my enthusiasm for Frank Turner will keep you going (and get you going to the store to pick it up for yourself). I’ll leave you with one last message that I think sums up this record perfectly:

Stream England Keep My Bones in it’s entirety at Frank-Turner.com.