Billy Bragg - Mr Love & Justice

It's hard being a legend like Billy Bragg - it doesn't matter how good your new stuff is, everybody wants to hear Greetings to the New Brunette. Most of the material on this, his first studio album in six years, focuses on love – occasionally sounding a little too formulaic lyrically, but this is redeemed by musical accompaniment from The Blokes, especially the familiar Hammond organ and occasional harmonica. O Freedom stands out as Mr Love & Justice's overtly political offering. With its refrain "O freedom, what liberties are taken in thy name," it comes across as a lament more than a call to action. Sadness and perhaps resignation, more than anger, seem to dominate the song, which seems fitting given the amount of protests that have fallen upon deaf ears. While Bragg's 12th LP might not deliver any classics like those to which we've become accustomed, it's still a fairly solid effort. [Trevor Mawhinney]