Album Of The Week - 7th September : Frank Turner - Poetry Of The Deed

Frank Turner has got to be one of the hardest working people in the music scene today. Ever since the demise of his post-hardcore band Million Dead in 2005, Frank has been living on the road gigging relentlessly. He has also managed to find the time to write and record at a rate which is pretty rare these days. Where so many bands tour and the take some time out and then start to write a new album over the space of 2/3 years, Frank Turner has now released 3 full length albums and 2 E.P.'s in four years whilst touring virtually non-stop. Previous album 'Love, Ire and Song' was one of my favourite albums of 2008 so I was very excited by the release of 'Poetry of the Deed'. This album was the first time Frank had rehearsed, arranged and recorded the songs with his full band. On previous albums he had done the majority of this himself. The production duties were performed by Alex Newport (At The Drive-In, Mars Volta, System Of A Down).

I have to say that on my first few listens it doesn't quite come up to the very high standards of 'Love, Ire & Song' but that is not to say that it is a bad album. In fact it is a very good album! The lyrics as always are brilliantly heartfelt and full of the passion that exudes from Frank Turner's vocals. Musically there is a good range of different styles found on the album from the more standard rock sounds of the title track to just Frank and his guitar on "Dan's Song" to real folky sound of "Sons Of Liberty".

One of the things that makes Frank Turner stand out as a singer/songwriter is that he is in no way manufactured. There are so many male singer/songwriters out there who are shaped and moulded by record labels, producers and management. Frank Turner is just a man who loves music, loves touring and loves writing and this is so evident in what he produces. You get a real sense when listening to his music that this has come from his heart and and that he is putting all of himself into it. The first single "The Road" is definately a highlight of the album for me, definately one that has been getting stuck in my head on a regular basis. I feel I need to listen to the album more to really get into it but I'm definately going to make the effort because Frank has once again come up trumps for me! (Plus I'm going to see him live at the Roundhouse in March so need to be able to sing along!)
http://open.spotify.com/album/4I03nlaCR5k3lYyK1WhUFd