Frank Turner: Tape Deck Heart

Frank Turner was catapulted into the headlines last year when a UK newspaper called him out over what it alleged were his nasty right-wing views. Regarded up until then as a sort of Gen Y Billy Bragg – a braying, would-be voice of the disaffected, – according to the The Guardian Turner was in fact a wacko libertarian who believed the State enslaved its citizens and that the European Union was an arriving dictatorial hegemony.

However, anyone scouring his new record for Ayn Rand like screeds will be let down. Instead, Tape Deck Heart is an intensely personal affair, chronicling what, judging by the lyrics, was an extremely long, dark night of the soul. “Blacking in and out in a strange flat in east London,” he croons on ‘Recovery’. “Somebody I don’t really know just gave me something to help set me down and stop me always thinking about you.” Heartache and fame, you gather, do not make for a blissful state of mind.
Musically, it’s surprisingly nuanced, Turner upholstering his rasping vocals and protest-strummer guitar with rich nu-folkie arrangements and jangling pianos. In the UK, where Turner regularly fills arenas, it’s easy to imagine the record carrying him to a new level of popularity. For Irish fans, the takeaway is that Turner is determined to develop as an artist – and that there’s more to him than supposedly wacko views and a penchant for conspiracy theories.

Key Track: ‘Recovery’