Remaining An 'Incorrigible Optimist' After A Shitty Online Experience

A few years ago Frank Turner made the conscious decision to leave politics, as subject matter for his songs, behind. Delving back into it with upcoming album Be More Kind, Turner explains that he felt a sense of urgency again, adding he felt there were topics out there that were too important to ignore.

"I was originally writing a record about different things," shares Turner, "which is finished and will come out at some point in the future. I was enjoying writing and recording these types of songs, but then I was on tour in America in the summer of 2016. That was the peak Trump/Clinton debacle, and that was the moment in time where a different set of songs started coming and they were unignorable."

One of the songs on the album, Make America Great Again, repurposes the President's infamous slogan to push against the rising normalisation of racism. Fifty minutes before our chat with Turner he showed the same deftness for puckish reversals, retweeting Kanye West's photo of his beloved, Trump-signed "Make America Great Again" cap with the caption "Glad to see @kanyewest is a fan".

"One of the things projected on this record is about social media and what that's doing to us as a species and society.

"And an awful lot of the time it seems to me that this is a person who's having issues with mental health, that need help rather than a megaphone... I think there's an issue in there somewhere. I think social media is the root of what's wrong with the world right now."

In 2012, Turner had a monumentally shitty online experience when it came to voicing his politics. After criticising the left and declaring himself a libertarian, death messages flooded his inbox with people taking every opportunity they could to try and pull him down. So did he expereince any fear leading up to the release of such a politically themed and left-leaning album?

"It's important to recognise that part of it was me being an idiot, badly phrasing what I had to say in the public forum... So my choice was a baptism of fire in many ways. I've come out of it better able to phrase whatever it is I say in public and my skin has been thickened. I'm a little bit older now and I've learnt that what the Twitter age has to say to me is less important than what I once thought it was. And you know what? Fuck 'em, I'm gonna say what I feel!"

Despite previous backlash Turner's motivation wasn't concern for the public's reaction, it was the desire to write memorable songs. He explains that he felt weary of writing certain politically themed songs, fearing they might quickly become dated. Turner says that friend and fellow musician Will Varley inspired him to write timeless, political tracks such as The Lifeboat. "The first half is quite pessimistic, and the second is optimistic," Turner says of his latest album. "I wanted to address how I was feeling about where we are as a species, but I am an incorrigible optimist. I quite often wish I was a bit more of a goth, 'cause its way cooler to be a pessimist than being an optimist."

Be More Kind was recorded a little differently than previous releases, with Turner putting extra money and mind into the studio sides of things. On 2015's Positive Songs For Negative People, Turner wanted to capture the sound and vibe of the band by stripping arrangements back. This time, he wanted to use the recording process as more of a tool and instrument: "There was one morning where we spent an entire morning trying to figure out how to make a bass make any sound at all, which was fun," he laughs.

So, with seven beautiful albums already under his belt and surely plenty more to come, what legacy would Turner one day like to leave behind?

"There's a part of me that rejects that kind of thinking. I think it's really important as your life goes on not to think about what happens after you're gone, it's a waste of artistic and emotional energy," says Turner. "Having said that, this is going to sound slightly melodramatic, but fuck it! We're here. When I was a kid I grew up with a certain set of songs that we'd sing around the campfire. Sometimes I wouldn't even know who wrote the song but it was just a part of our collective folk knowledge, per say, and I'd love for one of my songs to become one of those songs. Put on Galway Girl, Wonderwall or [Me &] Mrs Jones and people will know it. If I could write one of those I'd be really happy."