Be More Kind

Be More Kind
Studio album by Frank Turner
Released	4 May 2018
Recorded	2017
Length	48:27
Label	Xtra Mile Polydor
Producer	Austin Jenkins Joshua Block Charlie Hugall
Frank Turner chronology
Positive Songs for Negative People (2015) Be More Kind (2018)
Singles from Be More Kind
"1933" Released: 28 January 2018 "Be More Kind" Released: 23 February 2018 "Blackout" Released: 16 March 2018 "Make America Great Again" Released: 9 April 2018

Be More Kind is the seventh studio album by English singer/songwriter Frank Turner. It will be released on 4 May 2018 by Xtra Mile Recordings.

Composition

Its title is based on a line from a Clive James poem first published in the June 3, 2013 issue of The New Yorker in which he describes his own mortality called Leçons Des Ténèbres. The line which inspired the title reads: 'I should have been more kind. It is my fate. To find this out, but find it out too late.'

The album has been described as "a record that combines universal anthems with raw emotion and the political and the personal, with the intricate folk and punk roar trademarks of Turner’s sound imbued with new, bold experimental shades." It was produced by Austin Jenkins and Joshua Block, formerly of psychedelic-rock Texans White Denim, and Florence And The Machine and Halsey collaborator Charlie Hugall.

The artwork for the album with one illustration being done for each song was done by Ben Rix.

Release

He promoted the album with a Live Q&A session on Facebook on January 30. In the interview he cites the book Rip It Up and Start Again as a strong influence on the sonics of the album. Other influences he mentions in the interview are Soft Cell, New Order, Wire, Gang of Four and mid period Cure. He also recommends Clive James' book Cultural Amnesia. In one interview he described the album as being somewhere between indie rock and punk rock and country and folk

Promotion for the album includes an interview with NME.

"There She Is" had previously been available on his compilation album Songbook. The first song that was made available for streaming from the album was "1933". One reviewer described it as a beautiful angry punk song [1].

A music video animation for the title song was released on YouTube on February 22. The first proper single to be released from the album "Blackout" was released on March 16. Frank Turner described it thus on a link sent out to fans on the 17th of March "This was one of the first tracks we finished in the studio in Texas, and it really pointed the way forward - it's the first song of mine you could get away with playing in a club, I think, and it's about trying to find connections with other people when the lights go out."

"Make America Great Again" from the album was released on 9th of April. "Little Changes" was released a few days before the album on the last day of April.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Frank Turner, except where noted

Standard edition

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Don't Worry"	3:13
2.	"1933"	3:07
3.	"Little Changes"	3:26
4.	"Be More Kind"	4:06
5.	"Make America Great Again"	3:28
6.	"Going Nowhere"	3:59
7.	"Brave Face"	3:36
8.	"There She Is"	3:48
9.	"21st Century Survival Blues"	3:58
10.	"Blackout"	3:56
11.	"Common Ground"	4:14
12.	"The Lifeboat"	4:10
13.	"Get It Right"	3:26

Personnel

Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls

• Frank Turner – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Ben Lloyd – electric guitar, backing vocals
• Tarrant Anderson – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Matt Nasir – piano, organ, synthesizer, backing vocals
• Nigel Powell – drums and percussion, backing vocals

Additional personnel

• Austin Jenkins - production
• Joshua Block - production
• Charlie Hugall - production

Music videos

• "There She Is (Live acoustic version) "
• "1933"
• "Be More Kind"
• "Blackout"
• "Make America Great Again"