Britain’s best loved contemporary female reggae artist, Yaz Alexander is back – with a nine-track stop-gap mini-album that will gratify her insatiable fans before the release of her third solo album in the summer of 2009. “Cry For Freedom”, is an album that embodies all the traditions of cultural roots rock reggae, with thumping beats and bass lines, seductive melodies and thought provoking themes which makes it congruent to the volatile socio-political landscape of the 21st century. In a climate where capitalist instability threatens to undermine the economies of the “so called” free world, Ms. Alexander addresses the issues that are both intrinsic and endemic to the “hoi poloi” of capitalist societies around the world – no boom, no bust, just the reality of the majority of the ordinary working class, people who feel that their ideals are always marginalised despite the ideals of their respective and successive ruling parties. So, “more than four hundred years it was a cry for freedom,” the opening sentence of the eponymous title track heralds this beautifully sung and skilfully articulated nine track offering that surely takes Yaz Alexander one step closer to her magnum opus. With tracks produced by some of the most outstanding talents from Jamaica, America, Europe and the UK, “Cry For Freedom” has just the right balance of international flavours to make it universally the ultimate contemporary roots rock reggae album created in a long time.