If I was in Baghdad then I would rock Iraq

- Line from 'We Don't Stop' on Michael Franti's 2003 album Everyone Deserves Music

A lesser man would be all piss and wind but Franti is a guy who gets things done. Tired of his (and other) Governments bullshit in the Middle East, he went to the region himself and armed with a guitar and a camera made a documentary entitled I Know I'm Not Alone. A sadly real account of life in the troubled Middle East his visit formed the basis for the songs that appear on his new opus Yell Fire!

Franti's songs have always conveyed a sense of journalistic structure to them (especially his 2001 masterpiece album Stay Human) but on most of Yell Fire! you can almost feel the gunfire zipping above us as if he is reporting live and direct from just outside the Green Zone.

Songs like 'Time To Go Home', 'Yell Fire!' and 'Light Up Ya Lighter' paint vivid pictures of the turmoil that still continues. Opener 'Time To Go Home' is a plain and simple directive with Franti repeatedly asking the most important questions in regards to the human cost of the war: How many people? The title track however focuses on the lax attitudes of some of the wealthier nations, because why should something so far away really bother their citizens personally?

Continuing on with the reggae direction that began on the previous album, Franti has once more enlisted the services of veterans Sly and Robbie and has recorded the bulk of the album in Kingston, Jamaica.

On a few tracks however, Franti reaches out to other musical styles. 'I Know I'm Not Alone' and 'See You In The Light' touch briefly on the widescreen rock of U2 circa Joshua Tree while elsewhere he revisits the introspective acoustic sound from his Songs From The Front Porch album with the tender 'Sweet Little Lies' and the Pink assisted 'One Step Closer To You'.

If there is anything to criticize it is only the nitpicky remark of length. On record at least, 'Hello Bonjour' and 'Everybody Ona Move' aren't sold on this reviewer but due to their up-tempo nature will no doubt come to life in concert, where Franti and Spearhead really come into their own.

The meditative 'Is Love Enough?' brings the album to a close, reminding us that more needs to be done. With Franti leading the way then we're all in safe hands.