Frank Turner salutes women on his eighth studio album 'No Man's Land'
Including his mum
Frank Turner has detailed his eighth studio album ‘No Man’s Land’ and premiered the powerful lead single ‘Sister Rosetta’.
Released on Friday 16th August 2019 via Xtra Mile Recordings/Polydor Records, the concept album ‘No Man’s Land’ salutes inspirational women from all walks of life whose stories have been largely overlooked because of their gender.
The album was helmed by 2018 Producer of the Year Catherine Marks and, aside from Frank, it features an all-female cast of musicians.
“These stories should have been told already,” says Frank. “And I suspect if they were men they would be better known.”
As the title suggests, heartfelt lead single ‘Sister Rosetta’ is about legendary gospel and blues musician Sister Rosetta Tharpe whose pioneering sounds influenced Little Richard, Elvis Presley and The Rolling Stones, amongst others.
The song features guitar breaks lifted from Tharpe’s own back catalogue, “which I found challenging, because she’s a way better guitar player than me,” admits Frank.
Listen to ‘Sister Rosetta’ here:
Other women who feature across the 13 tracks 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.
No Man’s Land also includes perhaps the most revelatory song of Turner’s career. Written in tribute to his mother, Rosemary Jane honours her grit and determination through the harder parts of his childhood.
“It’s bringing together my two main interests in life, which have always been separate from each other - history and songwriting,” Frank says of the album.
He added: “It’s not telling anyone what to do or how to live or how to be. If there was a crowded field of people writing songs about Princess Kassiani then I would see the argument for me bowing out, but there isn’t. No-one else is writing these songs right now. That’s why I want to share these stories.”
Accompanying the album, Frank Turner is launching a 13-part ‘Tales From No Man’s Land’ podcast that delves deeper into each song. The first instalment is available from today (3rd July).
The ‘No Man’s Land’ track-listing is as follows:
Jinny Bingham’s Ghost
Sister Rosetta
I Believed You, William Blake
Nica
A Perfect Wife
Silent Key
Eye of the Day
The Death of Dora Hand
The Graveyard of the Outcast Dead
The Lioness
The Hymn of Kassiani
Rescue Annie
Rosemary Jane