Roots

The latest release reviewed

Steve Earle Washington Square Serenade New West ****

"I needed really badly at this point in my life to see a mixed-race, same-sex couple holding hands in my own neighbourhood. It makes me feel safer."

You have to love Steve Earle - indefatigable, inspired and in love. Following a rake of overtly left-wing political albums, he has made an overtly personal album after his marriage to singer Allison Moorer and their relocation to New York.

And it is his wife, his new city and his enduring commitment to social justice which provide the material for this typically bustling set with reflective and emotional high points such as Come Home to Me, the Beatles-like Days Aren't Long Enough (sung with Moorer) and the Tom Waits song Way Down in the Hole (soon to feature in the new series of The Wire, along with Earle in an acting role). www.steveearle.com Joe Breen

Download tracks: Tennessee Blues; Come Home to Me; City of Immigrants