England Keep My Bones

Former Million Dead vocalist Frank Turner takes an exciting and inspiring turn with his solo work. He writes songs that take a profound look at life, discussing the impact of music, love and his home of England with a sincere, rousing tone. It’s a style very easy to compare to folk-punk messiahs The Pogues. Most of the songs on this fourth solo album reflect upon life in England in a romantic, but not patriotic, manner (similar to how The Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York” revels in the grimier side of life in the Big Apple). Still, this album is not above being whimsical. The final track is a quaint, if rather blunt declaration of atheism titled “Glory Halleluiah”—“No finger-pointing justified by faeries up above/ … There is no God/ So clap your hands together.” It’s also worth nothing that even though it’s the first single off the album, “Peggy Sang the Blues” is hardly the best song on the record. The better songs offer more complex and interesting stories and are probably less marketable standing alone. But it’s not like Turner is hitting the Top 40 any time soon, so we can just not worry about it and enjoy the album as a whole.