James Dean Bradfield

Even In Exile

It's a record that draws you in, first with its story, and then with its songs. A wonderful break from the day-job.

Protest songs can be dour, but Bradfield dresses lyrics adapted from the poems of Patrick Jones in his most ornately uplifting arrangements.

A tribute to Chilean revolutionary Víctor Jara, this solo record steers clear of hackneyed music homage in favour of propulsive guitar tunes.

Building impeccably upon the foundations laid by its successor back in 2006, Even In Exile is an album that fully illustrates Bradfield’s stature as a solo artist of some repute.

A master at cramming elaborate lines into verses far too small for them, Bradfield could have made Even in Exile a wordy tangle of exotic oppressions. Instead, to draw parallels with the “acceptable” brutalising of today’s socialist figures, he takes a more impressionistic approach.

Bradfield’s invention knows no bounds as he shines light on the darkest corners of history.

The key to Bradfield's album is how it respectfully salutes Jara while conveying the emotions and ideas stirred within the singer/songwriter -- a rare trick that is quite compelling on this urgent yet nuanced song cycle.

Even if it’s a bit much at times, Even in Exile could well be the best record Bradfield has lent his voice to since 2009’s Journal for Plague Lovers; it’s not a classic, but a very strong, autumnal call to arms.