If that seems an unusual thing to say for an artist who shot to prominence with the anthem ‘Thatcher F***ed the Kids, it was and still is — but there are signs the Englishman has mellowed.Having shied away from political music in favour of ‘matters of the heart’ on his most recent records, his latest single Sand in the Gears jumps headfirst into that territory.Inevitably inspired by the political instability across much of the western world the past year, the released version of the track was recorded in ideal circumstances.Without planning, Turner and his band found themselves in Washington the night before Donald Trump’s inauguration – the perfect backdrop for an anthem that tears equal strips off the reactionary right and radical left.Turner told Something for the Weekend: “We spent most of the last year in the US, in particular over the summer when the presidential campaigns were in full swing.“I was toying with the song over Christmas and then in January we landed back in the States a couple of days before the inauguration [ . . . ] More: English folk singer Frank Turner talks about his music upsetting left wing Americans