In a recent interview, Frank Turner said that his new album, Undefeated, is the best work of his career. It's a bold claim for an article with a back catalogue of nine past albums that have pushed the folk punk star beyond his indie roots and into the mainstream.
For many artists, that body of work would be enough to rest on: play the hits and tour anniversary shows. Settle into veteran status and coast on a well-earned legacy. But Turner — who earned a workhorse reputation on the road, playing hundreds of shows a year for over a decade — has never been one to slow down.
"I don't want to hang up my creative boots and be like, 'I'm not making any records because now I'm just a heritage act.' Fuck that," he says. "But the question does become, where do I fit in? In some ways the new record is my attempt to answer that question."
Undefeated has some recurring themes throughout the album: a pissed-off perseverance in the face of naysayers and ne'er-do-wells; a few well-placed love songs and nostalgic yearning for days gone past; fighting against the tyranny of scene politics, the imposed limitations of traditional lifestyles, and even aging itself. It's all presented with Turner's knack for proletariat poetry and an intense desire to connect, an attempt to prove to fans — and to himself — that he's not going to fade away quietly.
"How does one be 42 and on album number 10?" he muses. "Everybody says, 'Oh my god! It's so great you got to album 10!' And I'm like, 'Thank you.' I'm extremely proud to still be working. Making it to double figures is cool. At the same time, it's not an inherently sexy number of records. There is an accumulated weight that comes with time served, and that is cool, but it can also feel like something you've got to carry."
It's a fascinating career stage very few artists have the privilege of navigating. Recent years have seen big gigs supporting mega acts like Counting Crows and Bruce Springsteen. Shows across Europe drawing some of the biggest crowds of his career. Some undeniably big wins. A Canadian tour will follow in September.
Still, there is a certain amount of pressure maintaining (and growing) a fan base over such a long period. As Turner approaches his third decade as a touring musician, reckoning with that pressure is something that, in the quieter moments, he thinks about a lot.
"When you're younger, you think, 'I'm going to struggle and I'm going to strive and, one day if I work hard enough and luck pans out, I'll play an arena show. Then after I play an arena show some other stuff will happen,'" he reflects. "And I'm now in the other-stuff-will-happen stage. I didn't have any plans for that as a kid — but one of the cool things to know is that I can still go and write songs. I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't feel like I had something to say. The word 'undefeated' doesn't suggest world champion to me. It doesn't mean you're the fucking greatest, it doesn't mean you beat everybody — it means that nobody beat you."
Undefeated is the first record the singer has released independently since 2013. The decision to leave a major label rather than renew a contract was a chance to push things on his own terms. It's the first album Turner has self-produced. The promotion for the album has followed a DIY ethos, with press days peppered with shows in indie record stores and local radio stations. On the day of the release, he broke the world record for most concerts performed in different venues over a 24-hour period.
It's all a concentrated effort to make the biggest splash possible: backing the project with a swing for the fences, rather than holding steady in his place in the industry. That's a new spin on an old idea for the singer — a reaffirmed commitment to romantic notions. Hard work coupled with rock 'n' roll can still create a bit of magic.
He says, "I'm very proud of what I've become and, and happy with who I am, broadly speaking. And I intend to keep doing this for a long time yet, if health, stamina, and public interest allows."
