A 10-YEAR-OLD African boy bleeds to death after being stabbed by a gang of his peers, while a war veteran is beaten to a bloody pulp by Asian youths.

Meanwhile, in Rome, Lazio football players have to beg their fans to stop chanting anti-semitic and racist abuse at any black or Jewish player.

So Mohammed Yussuf, frontman of Yussef, sums it up perfectly: "In the name of modernisation/ Are we a civilised nation? People live without feeling/ Oh they live life so concealing."

It's another thoughtful nugget in his new album, Love Of Life, which marks the Birmingham singer and his band - the Musical Detectives MY5 - as pastmasters of beat poetry.

Exploring subjects like race, religion and identity, and attacking apathy of all kinds, the whole album is quietly subversive.

The ongoing war in the Middle East, American imperialism and materialism are among the topical issues tackled and interspersed with nods to Yussef's heroes like Marcus Garvey and Gil Scott-Heron.

The 40-year-old, born in London and brought up in Trinidad, has been casting a critical eye over the world for more than 20 years.

He left his family aged 17 and moved back to Britain to strike out as a performer.

He has shared stages with the likes of Youssou N'Dour, the celebrated writer Benjamin Zephaniah and Gabrielle.

Much of his poetry represents a journey to discover his family's roots in Africa and has led him to tour the continent extensively.

"When I was a teenager, my father would take me to museums and there would be canoes and spears. I would find myself thinking who were these people who lived here before and where did they come from?" he said.

"I suppose a lot of what I write about came from travelling and understanding the issues of the world.

"I try not to get too pessimistic about things, which is why the album is called Love of Life."

Yussef play the Marr's Bar next Thursday, May 24.

Tickets can be bought in advance by calling 01905 763336.