A George Orwell quote on the inner sleeve of
Billy Bragg's frustratingly uneven England, Half English suggests that
Bragg is out to explore both his sense of alienation from his native land and England's alienation from its older, purer self. But while a couple of tracks, notably the withering "Take Down the Union Jack," fulfill that promise, overall the album is a decidedly mixed bag of character vignettes and the rabble-rousing political tunes that
Bragg can probably write in his sleep by now. The best songs here are the small-scale ones, like "Another Kind of Judy" and "Jane Allen," gimlet-eyed but wryly affectionate portraits of troublesome women. "He'll Go Down," which is reminiscent of "Valentine's Day Is Over" from Workers Playtime, is also a winner. Where
Bragg stumbles is on the overtly political tracks, most of which are dogmatic and strident. The anti-WTO "NPWA" (for "no power without accountability") is particularly awkward. Too slickly produced, as is much of the album, it sounds more like an angry undergraduate rant than the work of a mature songwriter. It's hard to argue with the line "We have no job security in this global economy," but even the most politically committed may wish
Bragg had found a way to show more and tell less. England, Half English also fails to develop a unified musical voice; the songs skitter from pop to reggae to ska to the Algerian folk-based "Baby Farouk." It's nice to see an artist trying out new styles, but here they feel forced. The album is graced by a wonderful closing track, "The Tears of My Tracks," a Cockney take on
Sam Cooke that may be the first got-the-blues-because-I-sold-all-my-vinyl song ever recorded. It's a reminder of what a sharp and charming songwriter
Bragg can be; it's too bad more of England, Half English doesn't reflect his considerable gifts. ~ Kristi Coulter