Frank Turner is the hardest working man in folk punk. Since entering the scene in 2007 after Million Dead disbanded, “Tape Deck Heart” is Turner’s fifth release in seven years. As the title would imply, it’s his most personal record yet, dealing almost exclusively with heartbreak and regret. The scene is set with the opener, “Recovery,” an angry yet melancholic post-breakup cry of help to an old lover.

Paradoxically, while “Tape Deck Heart” is his most personally focused album, his tireless work ethic runs out of personal experience to write about. Perhaps this is a consequence of his newfound success on the U.K. concert scene. His attempts to convey heartbreak lack the first-hand inspiration that made his 2007 song “Long Live the Queen” so powerful.

For a musician like Turner who relies on plainly spoken wordplay, generalization does him little good and breaks the connection between artist and listener. For example, on “Plain Sailing Weather,” he sings “The problem with falling in love in late bars / Is that there’s always more nights / There’s always more bars,” an attempt to be universal that lacks subtlety.

 Still, the album does contain moments of sheer brilliance, showcasing that there are new avenues Turner has yet to explore. “Four Simple Words” starts with a strange cabaret ballad, which explodes into a brazen punk anthem celebrating the power of music, destined to become a crowd pleaser. 

“Tape Deck Heart” never reaches the peaks of his earlier work, but it should please Frank Turner fans. It’s apparent though that if he wishes to remain relevant, Turner will have to expand his musical boundaries. (6/10)