Frank Turner has announced his new solo album FTHC. The new LP will be the follow-up to 2019’s No Man’s Land, and is set for release on February 11 via Xtra Mile Recordings / Polydor. You can also check out Turner’s latest single, “Haven’t Been Doing So Well” below.
In addition to Turner’s ‘The Gathering’ Shows this summer, which featured full Xtra Mile acts support bill, he also played storming festival sets at Download Pilot, Slam Dunk, Victorious, Beautiful Days and Moseley Folk. Tonight sees the long-awaited return of Turner’s fourth sold out Lost Evenings Festival for a four-night stand at London’s historic Roundhouse.
“Haven’t Been Doing So Well” captures the emotions that so many of us have been through in the past year and a half, as Frank explains: “It’s exciting to finally get the new music I’ve been working on out into the world after the last miserable 18 months. It’s been a difficult time for a lot of people and their mental health, myself included, and discussing that openly is important to me, so this is a song about anxiety and the struggles that come with that.”
Turner has always excelled at creating exuberant, cathartic songs from immensely challenging emotions, and that’s exactly what he has delivered here with a heartland punk rock anthem that will surely be hollered back to him at shows all over the world.
FTHC was recorded at ARC – Abbey Recording Studios – just outside of Oxford and produced/mixed by Rich Costey (Foo Fighters, Muse, Biffy Clyro). The album opens with “Non Serviam”, a two-minute blast of vitriolic hardcore that reflects the record’s title – a genre he again attacks on “My Bad”. But elsewhere it darts between punk, folk, hard rock and singer-songwriter confessionals, starting with the recent single “The Gathering” featuring Jason Isbell and Muse’s Dom Howard.
“Fatherless” is particularly revealing as Turner reflects on childhood trauma. “A Wave Across A Bay” is a tribute to his friend, the late Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit. The album ends with a rumination on leaving the capital after 7300 days for a new life on the Essex coast with the bittersweet “Farewell To My City”. It’s a mini autobiography rooted in time and place, but one that ultimately accepts that it’s time to move on.
Turner has also announced details of Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls’ ‘The Never Ending Tour of Everywhere 2022’, with Pet Needs and Truckstop Honeymoon set to support. Snuff will also be special guests at Turner’s tour-ending Brixton show on February 27.
Tickets for the gigs go on general sale on September 24. Visit the artist’s official website for more information and check out the dates below.
Frank Turner plays the following UK shows in 2022:
January 2022:
18 – Corn Exchange, Ipswich
19 – UEA, Norwich
21 – Junction, Cambridge
22 – Gliderdrome, Boston
23 – City Hall, Hull
25 – City Hall, Newcastle
26 – The Liquid Room, Edinburgh
28 – Lemon Tree, Aberdeen
30 – SWG3, Glasgow
February 2022:
1 – University, Leeds
2 – Tivoli, Buckley
4 – O2 Academy, Liverpool
5 – O2 Academy, Sheffield
6 – Academy, Manchester
8 – Tramshed, Cardiff
9 – HMV Empire, Coventry
11 – Rock City, Nottingham
12 – O2 Academy, Leicester
13 – O2 Institute, Birmingham
14 – Sin City, Swansea
16 – O2 Academy, Bristol
18 – The Forum, Bath
19 – O2 Guildhall, Southampton
20 – Dome, Brighton
22 – University, Exeter
23 – The Hexagon, Reading
25 – O2 Academy, Oxford
26 – Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone
27 – O2 Academy Brixton, London.