BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Pete Seeger Sessions CBS *****

"Any darn fool can make something complex; it takes a genius to make something simple." Pete Seeger said this in a different context, but it also applies to himself and to his latest champion, Bruce Springsteen. For his 21st album, Springsteen has returned to nourish the roots of his American vision. And while it might seem strange that a multimillionaire rock star would turn to the music of an almost 87-year-old hardcore folkie, former communist and environmental activist for inspiration, those who have followed Springsteen's career closely will see this as a logical digression. Springsteen and Seeger share an empathy with working people, and these 13 songs (plus two bonus tracks) are about ordinary people, not the great and the glorious.

Though these mostly traditional songs hail from a different age, Springsteen, almost Pogues-like, has brilliantly renewed them without compromising their organic strength. He has achieved this alchemy by keeping them as raw as possible but colouring them with swathes of Cajun accordion, New Orleans brass, fiddle, banjo and rough, spirited harmonies. Using a large band of accomplished folk musicians, he takes a fossilised ballad like John Henry and recharges it with a vocal of raucous intensity over a relentless pounding rhythm. Elsewhere there is resounding Gospel (Jacob's Ladder and O, Mary, Don't You Weep), muted reflection (Shenandoah, We Shall Overcome), dustbowl and anti-war ballads and much more. It is a triumph and a joy. You can sense the sheer enjoyment all had making this album. It is the same listening to it. Roll on The Point on May 5th.

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