Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones

England Keep My Bones is the fourth studio album from punk-folk artist Frank Turner, and to fit with the title, this album features a lot of admiration, history and general patriotism towards the country of England.

Another album that symbolises the patriotism in England? Opener Eulogy begins the album with a beautiful and sombre horn piece that only builds to the similarities with PJ Harvey’s 2011 release, Let England Shake.

Following song Peggy Sang The Blues is a typical Frank Turner song that resorts back into his traditional instrument of the acoustic guitar, though many more appear by the end. While often sounding like a generic acoustic song, the use of the backup vocal harmonisation and the drums for the folk-heavy climax create a bigger depth and atmosphere to the song that provides it with a nice heart-warming end.

The concept of England is used well in the lyrics of each track, though I can’t help but feel that the use of horns or harmonicas in some songs (like I Still Believe) are added for the sake of trying to “sound English” rather than those parts being specifically thought of as a necessary part of a song. This is a reason as to why this album pales in comparison to Let England Shake.

However, the production on this album is fantastic, every chord, every hit of the snare drum, even the backup vocals are easy to hear and sound beautiful. This is to be expected with a Frank Turner album as each effort features optimum production, which may be taken for granted by the masses of fans.

The sections where the punk aspect of Frank’s sound in this album are phenomenal, the electric guitar just seems to flip its respective tracks on its head and just builds to the variation of instruments used on this album.

Overall, England Keep My Bones is an honest, direct effort from Frank Turner. It is drenched with Frank’s admiration of home of England, and how could anyone dislike that? Some songs may begin in a fairly generic sense, but they are always saved by the burst of folk or punk that ascends these songs into higher levels and beyond.

[8/10]