Michael Franti has long mused over mixing pop and politics. His first band, industrial funk lot the Beatnigs, were too heavy for most, while Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy burned brightly but briefly. Spearhead has endured better, and despite earlier tendencies to dilute both music and message.

Everyone Deserves Music comes close to getting the balance right. Settling on a personal/political party manifesto rooted in early 1970s Sly Stone, it throws up some of Franti's most sublime, exuberant tunes, notably Bomb the World, which has a fine one-liner: "We can bomb the world to pieces, but we can't bomb it to peace."

Elsewhere, funk, reggae and Stones-ey rock mix with Bush and Baghdad. Hints of schmaltz and tired call/response tricks suggest Franti's focus could yet be sharper, but this should take him closer to the mass audience he deserves.