BILLY BRAGG: MR. LOVE & JUSTICE (2008)
1) I Keep Faith; 2) I Almost
Killed You; 3) M For Me; 4) The Beach Is Free; 5) Sing Their Souls Back Home;
6) You Make Me Brave; 7) Something Happened; 8) Mr. Love & Justice; 9) If
You Ever Leave; 10) O Freedom; 11) The Johnny Carcinogenic Show; 12) Farm Boy.
Six years between albums is a long time even
for the 21st century — you'd think that, perhaps, the artist has completely run
out of new things to say (which, of course, has never prevented bad or
desperate artists from putting out new music anyway, so it's actually more of a
compliment than a critique in this case). And when, eventually, new things had accumulated to a proper degree,
what we saw was an almost strangely humble and low-key Billy Bragg, almost as
if he'd seen his turning fifty as a sign from God to quiet down and start
acting his age. No loudness, no tension, no screaming, no anger — a wisened-up
elder statesman.
The music is still nice, though. Sentimental,
touching, with a pinch of catchiness and the usual intelligent Billy Bragg
charisma, even if it is occasionally wasted on very local pieces of progressive
propaganda (yes, ʽThe Johnny Carcinogenic Showʼ is a rant against the advertising of tobacco companies on TV, which
is a noble cause in general but makes for poor art in particular). But these
pieces are not frequent — somehow,
peace, love, and tranquility seem to be the album's main topics, since even the
anti-Iraq war tune (ʽSing Their Souls Back Homeʼ) is more of a sincere prayer
for the soldiers' safe return than a passionate rant against the crooked
politicians who sent them there in the first place.
And that's all right, as it seems that Billy
does honorably perform the artist's main duty — follow the tugs of the heart,
wherever it happens to find itself at the moment. The tone of the record is
immediately set by its opening and arguably best number, ʽI Keep Faithʼ: true
to the title, the song has subtle gospel overtones (mainly reflected in the use
of organ and vocal harmonies), but it is anything but traditionally religious —
the artist keeps faith in humanity rather than God, and proves it with a
low-key anthem where, perhaps, the greatest asset is the tone that he has
chosen for his voice: cracked, worn, and weary, yet deliberately friendly,
optimistic, and supportive. Nice chorus resolution, too, and a good mix of
pianos, jangly guitars, and strings.
Everything that follows is plain, simple,
unadorned, and direct, yet with enough stylistic and instrumental diversity to
be very easily sat through without getting bored. Sometimes it's just a bit of
a carefree pop-rock romp at the happiness of having something that still conforms to the man's socialist ideas (ʽThe
Beach Is Freeʼ, with a slightly «de-syncopated» Bo Diddley rhythm expressing
the happiness); sometimes it's a dark folk dance acknowledging the sadness of
the ultimate crash of these ideas (ʽO Freedomʼ, featuring the most paranoid,
Richie Havens-worthy, acoustic backing track and the mantra "o freedom,
what liberties are taken in thy name!" for the chorus); but most often,
it's just a quiet love song — not a breakup song, not a bad bitch song, but an
"if you ever leave me, my dear, there's nothing for me here" type of
song.
And at the end of it all, Billy offers us a
confession — as it turns out, he is "just a farm boy" and he is
"just dreaming of the time when I can go home". Formally, it's just
another anti-war song, but it can also be interpreted as a sort of "I'm
tired" statement in general, tired especially from being pushed around by
idiotic and/or oppressive decisions of, you know, the System, without really
being able to do anything about it. There is no exaggerated desperation or
frustration, it's all more of an "I'm old and tired, I'd just like to
settle down and love my wife, but they still keep pestering me with all that
shit" vibe that most of us are likely to empathize with more and more as
we reach mid- and then old age. It's a reasonable vibe indeed, and it's propped
up by a set of okay songs that suit it well — not too striking, but not
completely unoriginal, either. And maybe it's just me, but it seems as if Billy's
abilities as a singer are only improving as time goes by (and his drawn-out
Cockney accent, funny enough, is also much less prominent). No great shakes,
but enough love, justice, and honest songwriting on the record to guarantee a
modest thumbs up.
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