The British folk scene's singer-songwriter elite have a new way to record great albums: find a leading American producer with a home studio, and move in for a rapid recording session. It's what Richard Thompson did with Buddy Miller in Nashville, and now Billy Bragg has released his classiest-sounding album to date, working with Joe Henry in Pasadena. His voice sounds better than ever, helped by a distinguished backing band that includes pedal steel exponent Greg Leisz, and the songs are mostly bleak and personal, rather than political. It's more Route 66 than A13, and several sound like instant Americana standards, from the jaunty gospel and ragtime of Do Unto Others to the country weepy Swallow My Pride. Then there's the gutsy There Will Be a Reckoning, which could be a stadium anthem, and a thoughtful treatment of Woody Guthrie's I Ain't Got No Home. Impressive.