Album Review: Be More Kind, FRANK TURNER

Be More Kind is album number seven from British punk-pop troubadour Frank Turner. The follow-up to his 2015 outing Positive Songs For Negative People finds him in more upbeat form. From the outset the singer oscillates between humdrum, acoustic clap-alongs (‘Don’t Worry’) and three-chord punk efforts (‘1933’ – a bratty effort with strong echoes of early-noughties MTV2). Unfortunately, Turner also feels compelled to showcase his artistic maturity. The glockenspiel, ukulele and brass section are duly wheeled out for ‘Little Changes’, the kind of anodyne effort usually utilised for first-time buyer mortgage ads. A listen to ‘Be More Kind’ forces me to consider a perennially vexing question: why do certain artists insist on continually mining the dodgy terrain known as “brass pop”? Why?! Thankfully, when Turner’s band put away their devilish horns, there are some impressive power-pop cuts, particularly on the politically-focused ‘Make America Great Again’, which shimmers with a glossy synth-led arrangement. Later, ‘Blackout’ proves another very enjoyable, new wave dancefloor filler, while the up-tempo ‘Brave Face’ is similarly impressive. Unfortunately, the studio polish – supplied by White Denim’s Austin Jenkins and Joshua Block, and Florence And The Machine collaborator Charlie Hugall – is too often staid and pedestrian. The result is that Be More Kind never finds a cohesive tone. OUT MAY 4

Rating: 6/10