FRANK TURNER – ANNOUNCES 9 DATE UK HEADLINE TOUR

FRANK TURNER – ANNOUNCES 9 DATE UK HEADLINE TOUR

 

 

Tickets and pre-sales Here

NEW ALBUM ‘NO MAN’S LAND’- OUT AUGUST 16TH 2019
Details for a 9 date UK headline tour – including two dates at London’s Alexandra Palace Theatre on November 30 and December 3, 2019 – in support of his forthcoming eighth album, ‘NO MAN’S LAND’ (out August 16th on Xtra Mile Recordings/Polydor Records). Produced by Catherine Marks and featuring an all-female cast of musicians, ‘No Man’s Land’ is dedicated to the fascinating stories of women whose incredible lives have all too often been overlooked by dint of their gender. The album is accompanied by a new 13 part podcast series, ‘Tales From No Man’s Land’ (created in collaboration with Somethin’ Else), which hit #2 on the Apple UK podcast chart upon launch. Tickets for the UK headline tour will go on sale on July 19, with a special fan pre-sale via Frank’s store – https://store.frank-turner.com/.

The tour dates will see Turner put a new twist on his formidable live set up, featuring a solo set followed by an unplugged band performance in seated venues. Speaking about the format, Frank says; “For this tour, I thought it would be good to give the new album some proper attention, so the first set of mine of the night will be a solo run through some of those songs and stories; once the Souls are up with me, we’re playing around with a slightly more stripped back, thoughtful folk approach to some of the older material, which feels different and powerful. Looking forward to sharing a slightly different show with everyone for this run.”

The women featured on ‘No Man’s Land’ come from across wide geographical and historical lines. They include Byzantine princess Kassiani (The Hymn of Kassiani), Egyptian feminist activist Huda Sha’arawi (The Lioness), and Resusci Anne (Rescue Annie) an apocryphal drowned virgin whose face was used as the model for the medical CPR mannequin across the world. There’s the serial killer from the Deep South who plucked her victims from lonely hearts pages (Nannie Doss), the jazz-obsessed heiress who fought for the Free French (Nica Rothschild) and a rowdy coach house landlady from 17th century Camden Town accused of witchcraft (Jinny Bingham).

“It’s bringing together my two main interests in life, which have always been separate from each other – history and songwriting,” explains Turner, who can be found seeking out long-forgotten historical sites on self-guided psychogeographical strolls when he’s not packing out arenas or headlining festivals.

The Skids _ Peaceful Times (No Bad Records)

The Skids _ Peaceful Times (No Bad Records)

When I first saw this I must admit to being slightly skeptical off the back off the last studio album maybe they were heading into the quick cash in and bash out an acoustic album of classic Skids.  Well, happy to report I was wrong there.  Whilst it is indeed an acoustic Skids record it gives the impression of being well thought out and lovingly put together from the lush string synth or real strings it matters not because hearing a lush ‘Into the Valley’ is a beautiful thing.  they slow it right down to a funeral march tempo and throw in everything from the strings to the percussion and plentiful backing vocals ‘Into The Valley’ never sounded so good and Jobson’s voice sounds weathered and emotional.

Don’t stop there folks because over the next ten songs this record soars high and to be fair is a majestic thing from the hand claps and drums of ‘World On Fire’ this record is already ablaze and whilst the synths are cheating if you’re calling it an acoustic album but when you drop the needle and crack open that stone cold beer you’ll get the picture when you sink back into a comfy chair and let this wash over you.

Dipping into their last studio album ‘Burning Cities’ for ‘Kings Of the New World Order’ it’s always tough when you try to pitch new with old especially when the old are classics like ‘Into The Valley’ and the piano-driven ‘Saints Are Coming’ with a spectacular arrangement to be fair and again Jobson seems to have found his niche vocally.

‘Days In Europa’ is represented by a Crosby, Stills and Nash vibe on ‘Animation’. ‘Hurry On Boys’ from ‘The Absolute Game’ begins a little bit piraty for my liking and ‘Blood And Soil’ from ‘Joy’ is also reworked into something of an epic and sounds regal on its chorus. I think that’s it, every Skids album represented with ‘Joy’ also lending ‘Fields’ to proceedings.  We’ve also got a brand new track added to proceedings in the shape of ‘Kreuzberg 79‘ but its the finale of ‘Desert Dust’ again from the last studio album that leaves you like a good friend leaving with a reassuring hand to the shoulder.  the Skids have turned in a fantastic record.  Sure Acoustic albums have seen their fifteen minutes when MTV was a thing but every now and again one comes along and hits you for six and this boundary is courtesy of The Skids.  Check it out that’s my advice although I’d have loved to have heard them take on ‘Yankee Dollar’ but I guess you can’t please everybody all the time and this will most certainly do. Good effort.

 

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Author: Dom Daley