Billy Bragg arrived in the 1980s a fully realized, self contained, left-wing, protest singing iconic beast. He knew how to grab the attention with that thick Essex accent and his, almost sixties-like throwback topical songs of current social and political issues, were delivered in the unpolished manner of a man who had lived through and been fired up by the aggressive energy of the punk years. Much of the output Bragg released in the eighties is time stamped to the era, one of the indelible brick walls protest songs come up against, it is hard to be both topical and timeless. Bob Dylan managed it, Phil Ochs (one of Bragg’s great heroes) was less successful despite, at the time, being rated as one of Dylan’s greatest contemporaries. The thing that always marked Billy Bragg out for potential longevity was that he clearly had an ear for a great pop song. Just listen to ‘A New England’ or ‘Sexuality’ for evidence of this, Bragg understood that he was far less effective in the cultish margins and proved himself rather adept at projecting right into the mainstream on a platform of great songwriting.

The truth is that, at his core, Billy Bragg was a child of that open-minded musical sweet spot which blossomed in the late sixties, early seventies. That time when chart music really was a broad church, when amazing songs were raining down on impressionable young minds every week and folk, folk rock, rock, baroque-rock, psych-rock, psych-soul, soul, r&b, reggae, gospel, country as well as out-and-out pop all got stirred into the great big melting pot. Bragg wrote in his autobiography of having his soul touched and imagination ignited by the sounds of Simon & Garfunkel and, truth be told, that magical blend of rich, harmonic melody, warm analogue production and carefully composed lyric writing nourished his soul from that day on and never departed. However, that musical DNA took a while to really show itself in his own releases; Bragg seemed a little lost in the middle part of the nineties before joining forces with Americana gods Wilco on the Woody Guthrie series of albums, a union that seemed to unlock the door in Billy to let those childhood roots bleed into his own music. Further down the line, especially in the last ten years, Billy Bragg albums have been lush testaments of audio beauty, thoroughly draped in gorgeous only-living-boy-in-west-England tones and rich in sonic texture. Like so many 21^st century releases by the likes of Paul McCartney or Neil Young, these LPs may never be the classics that the uninitiated investigate first, that the legends are built upon, but neither do they dilute the catalogue. They are exquisitely crafted pieces of work waiting to reward those who are prepared to dig deep and this Bragg album from 2021 is one of the finest.

Produced by members of the Magic Numbers, the record taps wholesale into the psych-folk vibes that Bragg has seemed to be edging closer to over the years. Mellotron sounds abound, as does soulful fiddle and keys that coat a sublime country-rock ambience. Coming out of the pandemic lockdown, social issues still appear, as do US politics in songs like ‘The Buck Doesn’t Stop Here No More,’ but these days he also explores the failings we all inhabit as human beings. The way we are riddled with inconsistencies as our actions, especially towards each other, are driven by emotion rather than considered, measured declarations. Bragg is also acknowledging, in a way that forthright political debate rarely allows, that there is room for two opposing views to be both right and wrong, certainly that there are sometimes no definitive answers and even if they exist, they can get lost in battle. ‘Mid-Century Modern’ explores this explicitly, as Billy sings “that old familiar argument blew up again last night, the one where one of us is wrong but both of us feel in the right. My indignation drove me to say things I might regret, I hurt the one that I love the most with my self-righteous temperament.” This is certainly not a finger pointing lyric, the song repeats its verses with the singer focusing in on “the gap between the man I am and the man I want to be.” Ultimately, as Billy Bragg matures and grows, so too does his music and by slowing down his output a little, he is ensuring that every release continues to be as vital a listen as the last; the man is still pushing for that great leap forward in both humanity and song, he remains one to cherish and his work deserves appreciation.

Find a vinyl pressing of this album here: https://www.discogs.com/release/22015117-Billy-Bragg-The-Million-Things-That-Never-Happened