Ladies and gentlemen…introducing a little known man who goes by the name of Frank Turner – a singer songwriter hailing from London, with his third studio album; Poetry of the Deed. Anyone who’s a fan of good music, read on…
His first two helpings of delicious of folk-cum-indie-acoustic rock music were anthemic and created a large buzz on the ‘scene’. His debut; Sleep is for the Week, combined big sing-a-long choruses and lyrics of everyday life. His second outing; Love, Ire & Song did it all again but with more maturity, with heartfelt lyrics and complex song structures. Poetry of the Deed takes these two formulas and makes a great combination.
The album’s opener; Live Fast Die Old, is somewhat different to much of his previous solo work and emphasises his close-knit band which he works along side now during his live shows. The jingly piano intro is different to most of his previous tracks but once Turner’s vocal chords enter then you know exactly where you are - In the secure hands of a Frank Turner song.
The second track on the album; Try This At Home, has a ska/punk theme to it, not too dissimilar to Turner’s previous work with punk band Million Dead – those who followed his work this far back will be pleased to hear tracks such as this, but some won’t be too overly keen on first listen…but fear not, it’ll grow on you as it’ll highlight the sing-a-long style which he loves, and for anyone lucky enough to have seen him live, will fully appreciate too.
People often judge bands and their latest albums on what they’ve done new compared to previous work, and whether or not it works. This album clearly indicates that Turner wants to take his music forward onto new audiences with his full backing band. Songs from Love, Ire & Song slowly leaked onto the playlists of XFM, Absolute and even Radio One at times, and the first single off Poetry of the Deed; The Road, has received as much airplay as any of his previous singles, so the move is clearly working commercially.
Tracks such as Isabel and The Fastest Way Back Home highlight the layers to his music with pianos and extra guitars adding to him and his acoustic axe. The Road is clearly a single track with it’s anthemic chorus, as are the album’s title track and Live Fast Die Old. They may be slightly more distorted and electric to what some fans will be used to, but you know that when played live they could be great.
Other highlights on the album include Richard Divine; a story of a suicide attempt which Turner turns into a lyrical piece of art like he did with tracks such as Long Live The Queen from Love, Ire & Song. Some of the tracks do seem to fall a little flat and short of his high standards towards the end of the album, which ultimately leaves it at 4 stars rather than 5. But if it was a full album of singles then this would surely be the album which makes Frank Turner an a-list name.
Compared with his other work, after a couple of listens I’d have to say the album doesn’t quite meet the high standard I’ve come to expect from Turner. That being said, the quality of music he’s produced here is very high, showing the maturity you expect to see. Perhaps I’m just the old romantic who would have liked him to stick to just himself and his acoustic guitar for the most part rather than complicate matters. However, you’ve to give it to the man – he knows how to write a good song. Buy this and enjoy it. Buy his previous work and enjoy it even more.
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Sep 25th, 2009
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