Neil Spencer 

Frank Turner: England Keep My Bones – review

The folk-punk star evokes Billy Bragg on his anthemic fourth LP, writes Neil Spencer
  
  


Four albums into his solo career, the hyperactive "folk punk" man looks poised for a break-out beyond his loyal following. England Keep My Bones makes a strong calling card, its mix of air-punching anthems and acoustic pieces principally celebrating "home, hearth and history". "Rivers" is a paean to his homeland, "Wessex Boy" honours his home town (Winchester) and "English Curse" offers an a cappella account of William II's death. Dylan, Springsteen and Presley also get a nod, though the singer Turner most resembles is Billy Bragg, sans politics but with a similarly direct style. It's an exuberant affair, though the "atheist hymn", "Glory Hallelujah", proves as flat as any pulpit sermon.

 

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