One of the many enjoyable things about writing a column is learning new things.

That's about fifty per cent of the beat really: you learn a bunch of new stuff, get excited about it, and then tell everyone.

Obviously, many of these things aren't exactly life-changing. Last week I checked out weekend music around town. It followed exactly that course; learning stuff, even if the learning mainly involved a phone and the internet, and passing it on.

The 'getting excited” bit was from discovering a couple of venues I didn't know about. Yes, I must sadly confess, small things make me excited.

I was doing 'research” this week too, and during my usual routine a new album arrived.

First I lived with it for a week in isolation. Then I went online and checked related material, watched any videos (though I'm not a fan of the whole concept of music videos) and read relevant background information, be it news, blogs, whatever.

And I learned a new term: 'Virtue Signalling”.

Virtue Signalling

This may be old news to y'all, but it's not something I'd come across, especially when used to denigrate a new album I really like.

Virtue signalling, and this is a direct Wikipedia quote so don't accuse me of plagiarism, is: 'The conspicuous expression of moral values done primarily with the intent of enhancing standing within a social group.”

It was a term first used in theoretical science but: 'In the late 2000s, many users on internet forums and social media defined the term differently from its academic meaning and turned it into a pejorative term.”

Well, stop the presses! What was once a scientific term has been turned into an insult by social media. Of course it has.

Examples of behaviour described as virtue signalling include changing Facebook profile pictures to support a cause, offering thoughts and prayers after a tragedy, celebrity speeches during award shows and politicians pandering to constituents on ideological issues.

Be more kind

So here I am with Frank Turner's new album, Be More Kind. I love Frank Turner.

I reckon at least half the album is brilliant.

And there's a rabid horde of internet geeks shaming it for virtue signalling.

Frank Turner is an English singer who's a lot bigger there than here. This is his seventh album, already the source of two UK hits, and in London he sells out Wembley Stadium. Here, very few people know him.

The new album has a different sound. On previous albums his band, The Sleeping Souls, have been presented fairly live; Be More Kind has serious 'production”, making it less folk/punk, more mainstream pop/rock.

But it is the lyrics that have excited internet shamers. Turner's album titles mean what they say. His peerless England Keep My Bones explored meanings of Englishness. The last album was Positive Songs For Negative People, and this expands on that theme.

Front and centre, Be More Kind is a plea for kindness and understanding.

Aspirational songs

And why not? Frank has always been open about struggles with mental health and has worked extensively with CALM, a charity dedicated to preventing male suicide. He has also always had a penchant for aspirational songs. That's obvious here, with tunes such as 'Don't Worry”, 'Brave Face”, and the catchy single 'Little Changes”.

Slightly more trickily, he applies this philosophy to the political as well as the personal.

The title track straddles both areas, while 'Common Ground” calls for political openness and comity.

The essential contradiction here is that elsewhere on '1933” he equates certain modern politics with that year's rising fascism.

And therein lies the conundrum of modern life - how people preaching tolerance deal with people completely intolerant. It's the same fundamental struggle the world's religions are locked in.

And whether being 'more kind” is an effective approach has yet to be determined.

Still, there's a big difference between having values and value signalling. Frank Turner wears his heart on his sleeve and isn't afraid to stand up and preach a philosophy of kindness.