Beans on Toast – Rolling Up the Hill

As ever, Beans on Toast, AKA Jay McAllister, serves up his homespun, ramshackle folk with a side order of spiked, stick-it-to-the-man polemic. Words come at you like barbed projectiles, his pithy observations on the state of the nation an uncompromising but literate tirade. Sevens albums in, there's no let-up but this time McAllister's roots manoeuvres are guided by the addition of Louisiana husband and wife duo, Truckstop Honeymoon. The duo add mandolin and bass, embellishing the sparse sound board. 

"It’s funny that you think execution is acceptable / And then get so frustrated by satirical cartoons," he sings on God Is a Cartoonist, following up with "every Christian, every Muslim, every atheist has a God-given right to take the piss." Which proves, as you might expect, a tad tricky to squeeze into the four bars it's allotted, but burns with a potent mix of righteous anger and a desperate call for empathy and understanding.