Billy Bragg Announces Album, Shares New Song: Listen

Billy Bragg has announced his 10th studio album, The Million Things That Never Happened. The new LP lands October 8 via Cooking Vinyl. Today, Bragg has shared a performance of “I Will Be Your Shield,” as well as a trailer for the album. Check out both below, and scroll down for the tracklist and artwork.

“To me this is the heart and soul of the album,” Bragg said of “I Will Be Your Shield” in a press release. He continued:

I’ve come to the conclusion that empathy is the currency of music—that our job as songwriters is to help people come to terms with their feelings by offering them examples of how others may have dealt with a situation similar to that in which listeners find themselves. After what we’ve all been through, the idea of being a shield, physically, emotionally, psychologically, really resonates.

The Million Things That Never Happened was produced by Romeo Stodart and Dave Izumi at Echo Zoo studio in Eastbourne, England. Bragg wrote the entire album solo, aside from “Ten Mysterious Photos That Can’t Be Explained,” which he co-wrote with his son Jack Valero.

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The Million Things That Never Happened:

01 Should Have Seen It Coming
02 Mid-Century Modern
03 Lonesome Ocean
04 Good Days and Bad Days
05 Freedom Doesn’t Come for Free
06 Reflections on the Mirth of Creativity
07 The Million Things That Never Happened
08 The Buck Doesn’t Stop Here No More
09 I Believe in You
10 Pass It On
11 I Will Be Your Shield
12 Ten Mysterious Photos That Can’t Be Explained\