Never before has an album title felt more fitting.
Frank Turner’s ninth album, 2023’s FTHC, was a record about reconciliation – battling through the chaos to recover what’s been lost amid trying times. An intensely cathartic and frequently unflattering listen, Frank Turner’s blunt observations about the pandemic along with his ravishingly personal songwriting made the album feel like a culmination of everything he had been building towards throughout his career, confronting his demons with a raw, infectious intensity that made it in equal part amazing and emotionally draining. Somewhat mercifully, Undefeated is a much more straightforward listen, as Frank Turner reasserts himself as one of the very best punk rockers in the business. Right from the opening track ‘Do One’ he’s rebuking those who would dare try to undermine his place in the industry as a seasoned veteran, before clapping back at the ‘punk is dead’ media narrative on the manic ‘Never Mind The Back Problems’.
The righteous anger and frustration on these songs, as well as on the defiant rejection of mainstream conventions ‘No Thank You For The Music’, are emotions that Frank Turner can sell in his sleep. What has impressed me most about Frank Turner’s songwriting in recent years has been his introspection and ability to frame complicated emotions in a nuanced light, foregrounding the messy humanity that lies beneath. This album is no different, focussing on connections that will never be recaptured. It might be familiar thematic territory, but it’s remarkable how Frank Turner will spin his stories in interesting ways that make them feel so fresh every time. ‘Girl From The Record Shop’ might be little more than a playful romp about a woman that our narrator is too afraid to talk to, but by positioning the setting as front and centre to their connection, Frank Turner highlights how places can heighten emotion, be it the record store or the underground station that spurs distant memories on the contemplative ‘East Finchley’. But the best moment on the album in this vein is ‘Letters’ with its ravishingly catchy hook and poignant lyrics about regret in the face of lost connections.
‘Ceasefire’ is similarly exquisite for its plainspoken exploration of how the choices he has made have taken him down a different path than he could have ever imagined, but also how the person who he was continues to weigh on his mind and influence those choices to the point of pleading for forgiveness in its final moments. ‘Pandemic PTSD’ might be even better, unpacking the awkwardness that comes with living through unprecedented times, only to realise that at some point you’ve got to find a way to get on with your life and put it all behind you, a challenging task given how much the pandemic shaped our world. The emotionally intense moments are thankfully balanced out by moments of lightweight camaraderie like ‘Show People,’ a song where Frank Turner exercises his underrated strength for making music about the music life. It might paint in broad strokes at times, but there is a thoughtful core to this album in spite of all the anger that shines through remarkably well.
As for the music on this album, it feels like the natural continuation and expansion of the hardcore punk of FTHC. The blisteringly catchy hooks were never going to go anywhere (with ‘International Hide and Seek Champion’ being the biggest earworm among the track list), and even the songs that strip everything down like the gentle ‘On My Way’ have some rollicking bounce to them. It’s amazing how much mileage Frank Turner is able to get out of a relatively straightforward angry punk formula. Given that he produced this album entirely himself, how richly smouldering this album sounds becomes doubly impressive.
I’ve always liked Frank Turner, but Undefeated feels like a declaration of his resilience unlike anything he has ever made before. His output during the 2020s up until this point had been emotionally turbulent and all over the place, whereas this is the fiery artistic statement that will win people over on raw craft and intensity alone. Calling an album ‘undefeated’ might be one hell of a statement, but Frank Turner absolutely earns that title.
Frank Turner: Undefeated – Out 3rd May 2024 (Xtra Mile Recordings)
Turner – ‘Do One’ (Official Video) (youtube.com)
