Billy Bragg: Mr. Love & Justice (Deluxe Edition)

Label: Anti

Even more low-key than usual for Bragg, this one might slip under the radar, which would be a loss. Given a few listens, it’s subtly infectious. The energy level may be set at “mellow,” even with band backing, but the lyrics reside at “passionate,” whether political or personal – or both. It’s not an album for red states, that’s for sure. It’s no shock that he’s opposed to the Iraq War (“Sing Their Souls Back Home”) and tightening government control (“O Freedom”), but he mostly manages to pull it off without sounding pedantic. On the two-CD deluxe edition, he gets back to his solo roots by performing the whole album by himself on disc two.