The arena-sized folk-punk singer-songwriter will conclude his UK tour ahead of his forthcoming seventh studio album with a smaller than usual gig at the UEA LCR in May.

Norwich Evening News: Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls will be supporting new album Be More Kind. Photo: Xtra Mile/PolydorFrank Turner & The Sleeping Souls will be supporting new album Be More Kind. Photo: Xtra Mile/Polydor (Image: Archant)

Folk-punk star Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls have announced a gig at the UEA in Norwich as part of a UK tour ahead of his forthcoming seventh studio album.

The singer-songwriter, who headlined arenas on their last tour, and supported Blink 182 on their huge stadium dates last year, will be playing a series of dates on their Be More Kind World Tour at smaller UK venues throughout April and May, concluding with a tour finale at the UEA LCR on May 9.

Frank Turner, who started his professional music career as the vocalist for punk outfit Million Dead, released his debut solo album in 2007 entitled Sleep Is For The Week.

Having last year released Songbook, a career-spanning retrospective which also saw reworked versions of tracks from across the past decade, the new album, Be More Kind, which is released on May 4, represents a thematic and sonic line in the sand for the 36-year-old.

Norwich Evening News: Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls will play the UEA LCR, Norwich, in May. Photo: Chuff MediaFrank Turner & The Sleeping Souls will play the UEA LCR, Norwich, in May. Photo: Chuff Media (Image: Archant)

Turner's last two records, 2013's Tape Deck Heart and 2015's Positive Songs For Negative People, which included hit song The Next Storm, dealt with the fallout from a break-up and saw Turner struggling to cover the cracks in his personal life.

The new album combines the political and the personal, with the intricate folk and punk roar trademarks of Turner's sound imbued with new, bold experimental shades.

It has been produced by Austin Jenkins and Joshua Block, formerly of psychedelic-rock Texans White Denim, and Florence and The Machine and Halsey collaborator Charlie Hugall.

He has just released the first track from the album, 1933, a clattering, state-of-the-nation anthem.

'I wanted to try and get out of my comfort zone and do something different,' says Turner, who was on tour in the US at the time of the election of President Trump. 'Somewhere in the record, there's a convergence of the ideas of personal and political, which is a central theme of the album.'

• Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls play the UEA LCR, Norwich, on May 9. Tickets go onsale on Friday, February 2 at 10am.