The Roots: Undun – review

Taking time out from house band duties on Jimmy Fallon's NBC talk show, veteran Philadelphia hip-hop group the Roots have made a new album – their 10th – about shattered dreams and early death. Billed as "an existential retelling of the short life of one Redford Stevens (1974-1999)", Undun is also a mirror held up to present-day America, where ambitions are more likely to die than prosper. It's a downer, but timely and affecting, with moments of beauty. Standout track "Make My" recalls Marvin Gaye, while the instrumental suite at the end of the album borrows from Sufjan Stevens.