BILLY BRAGG

This short, six-track, state-of-the-world address does what one-time Bard Of Barking has long excelled at, condensing the social and political tenor of the times into pithy and combative tunes. A mood of weary resignation takes hold on the opening stomper, The Sleep Of Reason. The calm bravery of a young woman who faced up to racist demonstrators is saluted in Saffiyah Smiles, while King Tide and The Sunny Day Flood is a countryfied swipe at climate-change deniers.