Punk singer-songwriter Frank Turner has announced his new album, Undefeated, will be released May 3 via Xtra Mile Recordings. The record marks Turner’s tenth solo studio offering and is the follow-up to the critically acclaimed FTHC.
New single “Do One” is a spirited sing-along and finds Turner firing on all cylinders via a supremely catchy message of defiance (“I’m still standing up and there’s nothing you can do!”) which straddles the spectrum between power-pop and pop punk.
Turner says of the single:
“‘Do One’ is the last song I wrote for the new album, and the first song on that album, as well as the first single. So it’s a summation of what I’m trying to say with this record—a record about survival and defiance—but also one with a sense of fun and self-deprecation. Nineteen years into my solo career, I’m still standing up and putting out some of my best work. It feels good.”
“Now I’m surprised to report that as I enter my 40s, I’ve returned to being an angry man,” he sings on the recent track “No Thank You For The Music.” And that’s a concise statement as to what to expect from the forthcoming Undefeated.
“There are no clichés about the difficult 10th album, so in some ways, that’s a liberating statement. But at the same time, I have a duty to justify writing and releasing a 10th album. That’s a lot of records for anybody. Also, I’m 42. Which is not a sexy, rock ’n’ roll age. But all through my career, I’ve been interested in writers like Loudon Wainwright III or The Hold Steady, people who write about adulthood, essentially.”
In true DIY spirit, Undefeated represents a new chapter for the punk veteran, the result of his decision to step away from the major label world and re-embrace working as an independent artist. The album was recorded in the home studio that he and his wife, Jessica Guise, share on Mersea Island, Essex, and was written and produced entirely by himself. It also features his longstanding, loyal bandmates The Sleeping Souls: Ben Lloyd (guitar), Tarrant Anderson (bass), Callum Green (drums), and Matt Nasir (piano).
The release of the album will of course see the punk road warrior tour with the intense schedules he’s known for (such as the sprawling 50 States in 50 Days North American tour) but with even bigger ambitions that will be revealed in due course as he nears his 3000th (!) show.
Check out “Do One” below and pre-order/save Undefeated here.
Follow Frank Turner: Facebook/Twitter/Instagram
Image courtesy of Shannon Shumaker
