Hey...you know something, it would seem that I reviewed Turner's previous albums Poetry Of the Deep (2009) and England Keep My Bones (posted 13/06/2011 and again on 17/07/2011), as well as the EP Rock & Roll (issued in Dec 2011, but review posted only 23/02/2012)...so that's where I'll direct you for his history story up to that point.
Meanwhile, the last two years have been very busy! Not only did Turner tour his ass off, both with his band (The Sleeping Souls) and as a solo artist, but also on other fronts. Release-wize, a rarities compilation entitled the Second Three Years was released through Xtra Mile Recordings in November 2011 (and then through Epitaph in Jan. 2012). August 2012 saw Turner announcing his participation in a new Hardcore act named Möngöl Hörde, which includes Sleeping Souls keyboardist Matt Nasir on guitar and former Million Dead's Ben Dawson on drums. The band played only a couple of shows so far, but two of 'em were immediately at one of the bigger UK festivals, namely the Reading and Leeds festivals. So far, three demo songs have been released to the public. Non musically related, October 2012 saw the announcement of Turner's very own beer, Believe.
For the first time, Turner recorded his album outside of the UK, due to the producer's reluctance to travel his equipment to England. In stead, Turner was convinced by Rich Costley to come over to Burbank, California, during October of last year. Also during October, a video entitled Frank Turner Live From Wembley was released. Straight after the recordings, Turner did a UK headlining tour throughout November and December (during which a free CD entitled Goog Hangs – which included the as yet to be officially released Frank Turner song “Tattoos” and the Möngöl Hörde song “Casual Threats From Weekend Hardmen” - from Xtra Mile Recordings was distributed). Christmas day 2012 saw the first release of the some of the new album's material in the form of the songs “Four Simple Words” and “Cowboy Chords” (the latter meant as b-side) being made available as free download on the label's website. A video was recorded for the pre-album-release single “Recovery” on Jan. 4th (no idea when it was actually released!). This was followed by a new series of live appearances starting Jan. 10 up to May 12. Starting in Ireland, a first leg of the tour took in Scandinavia, Germany, Austria, and Belgium during January. February saw shows being played in Germany again, as well as in France, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and one show in the UK before a short fortnight of rest, during which it was announced that the upcoming album was signed to Interscope Records for its release in the US. The second leg of the tour started on March 2nd, with shows in the USA into half of the month followed by shows in China and Vietnam, and the start of an Australian tour towards the end of the month also taking the band to New Zealand on April 6 and 7. By April 17 the band was back on UK soil, to play 10 shows in the Southern parts of England, before rushing their asses back to the European continent for shows at Belgium's GroezRock festival, as well as additional shows in germany, Switzerland, Austria and Holland, before finishing the tour with shows in Ireland. By the time you read this, the band will be rounding up another leg of additional shows in the US. For what's planned after that (and there's still quite a bit to come yet), consult the band's website!
Musically speaking, Tape Deck Heart very much continues where England Keep My Bones, bringing a mixture of semi-acoustic and “heavier” singer-songwriter songs, which all seem to me to be adaptable for acoustic renditions. For your audio introduction to the material, check either the band's own website, (www.) myspace.com/frankturner, or one of its many pages on other music websites. The special edition version of the album includes the aforementioned “Tattoos”, as well as “Cowboy Chords” (“Four Simple Words” belonging to the “normal” album's track-list), and 4 additional bonus tracks. Well worth the money you would pay for it, I should say, as it adds 21 minutes to the “normal” edition!