Rob’s Album of The Week: Frank Turner’s Undefeated
One of the special things about being a music fan is when you get to follow the career of a band or a musician from their earlier material to what they’re putting out now. You get to experience your favorite act that not a lot of people knew about at first to currently having a dedicated and widespread fanbase. This fact can be either alienating or gratifying depending on the type of folks who end up supporting said band or musician when they get big, but I can definitely say that it’s more akin to the latter when it comes to being a fan of the English folk punk troubadour Frank Turner. I’ve been following his creative output ever since the release of his sophomore full-length Love Ire & Song back in 2008 and Turner just reached double digits with the unveiling of his tenth album Undefeated via Xtra Mile Recordings on May 3. The record examines Turner’s life and views as a person in their early 40s while exploring a wide range of topics.
These subjects encompass our society still feeling the effects of COVID-19, friendships not being like what they used to be and the reality of aging among others. Like the majority of Turner’s releases for the past 15 years, he employed his backing band The Sleeping Souls consisting of Ben Lloyd on guitar, Tarrant Anderson on bass, Callum Green on drums and Matt Nasir on piano. He also handled all the recording and producing by himself at his home studio, which he did an excellent job at. Stylistically Undefeated has Turner’s trademark approach with a handful of legit rockers being intertwined with stripped down ballads. It shows that he’s still on the top of his game after all these years and his knack for writing a stellar song won’t be fading away anytime soon.
Going back to my initial fandom, I had no idea who Frank Turner was until I got his music in the mail while being the Alternative Music Director at my college radio station during the late 2000s. I had no clue about what his previous band Million Dead was or anything else about him, I was literally becoming a fan in the freshest way when I first gave his music a listen. It’s a prime example of how special the discovery of new music can be at the start, and that’s why I hold Turner and his creative output in high regard. It’s also one of the reasons why I enjoy writing this review column every week. With this being said, here are my top tracks:
I can relate to the lyrics in “Do One” a lot, especially the first few lines. I also love the triumphant sense of resiliency while getting the message across of not taking anyone’s shit and sticking to your guns. “Girl From The Record Shop” should be a radio hit everywhere due to its pop hooks and upbeat structure. It has the ability to get stuck in one’s head in a pleasant way rather than being a repetitive nuisance. The lyrics within “Pandemic PTSD” is an intelligent commentary on the current situation our society is in a few years after COVID-19.
Turner and The Sleeping Souls have a ton of shows coming up in support of the new album starting at Carroponte in Milan on May 12. Other notable dates include May 25 at the Boston Calling Music Festival, May 31 at the Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, back-to-back shows at The Summit in Denver on June 3 & 4 and June 22 at The Fillmore in Philadelphia. These are only a few of the many performances they have going on this year, and you can log on to the live shows page on their website for all the details. In the meantime, grab a copy of Undefeated. It’s another great installement of a fantastic songwriter’s discography that you should start exploring if you haven’t already.
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