Frank Turner released his tenth studio album in May, the powerful ‘Undefeated’, which charted at number 1 on the UK Independent Albums Chart and number 3 in the main chart. The songs are notable for their thoughtful, insightful, uncompromising lyrics and the way he examines his life, loves and losses through his music. One of the strongest, is ‘Somewhere Inbetween’, a heartfelt reflection on mental health and feeling out of place in your own life: “I’ve been pretending to be somebody else since I was just fifteen // And I don’t know if the show was for them or for me anymore…But I remember being underwhelmed when I worked out who I was…A stranger to myself, but still chasing their forgiveness // For anything I did when I was somewhere in-between.” These lines are open, honest and ache with feeling. Musically, the strong is built around the terrific, hypnotic drum pattern and it grows and grows into a huge anthem for those seeking peace and acceptance. Now, we have a video that matches the artistic ambition of the song.
Turner explains: “‘Somewhere Inbetween’ is one of my favourite songs from ‘Undefeated’, and for me the most important, because it’s the hardest subject matter – impostor syndrome, alienation, disassociation. It was a tough song to get right, and so it was important to make sure that, if we were going to make a video for it, it had to be right. Thankfully I was able to team up with the amazing director Stuart Alexander. He came up with a leftfield but moving interpretation of the piece – an alternative life in which my music career ended in 2005, and the memories of being in punk bands became something almost unbearable. The resulting video is a short film about not fitting in, not being at peace with your own past, and I think it’s a thing of rare beauty.” Indeed, the drama and tension in the video are genuinely compelling and Turner’s performance is hugely emotional as he plays the part of the life he could have led if he had not embarked on a solo career. There are some great details in the video, such as Turner losing the tattoos he’s had done since the point this life diverged from his actual career.
Turner has just released an acoustic version of ‘Undefeated’, giving a sense of how the songs developed for the album proper and being an absorbing piece of work in its own right. Turner notes: “As many of you know, I started doing this whole solo thing on my own, playing alone with an acoustic guitar, and I still play shows like that from time to time. I love the full production on the album proper, but I always think it’s fun to show people how the songs came together in the first instance, stripped back and raw.” The songs lose none of their power and melody but, as a listener, the different perspectives are intriguing. Check out the acoustic versions, if you haven’t already, but lose yourself in this emotional video first.
