Well if you are 70 years old, releasing your twelfth album on the back of a career spanning four decades, what must you be hoping for? Well Garland Jeffreys is in a rich vein of form following on from 2011’s ‘King of in Between’ so perhaps he is hoping to be a continuing shining light in today’s music marketplace and on 'Truth Serum' he most certainly is.
Not only an accomplished guitarist who has played with the likes of Lou Reed, John Cale, Bruce Springsteen and Dr. John, to name a few, Garland is also a very accomplished songwriter and social commentator.
On `Truth Serum’ we get the blues of the title track, which puts the listener into the groove straight away. A West Coast vibe (not bad for a man from Coney Island). On ‘ Any Rain’. An introspective ballad, ‘’It’s What I Am’, reggae on ‘Dragons to Slay’ and so on, the variation of the songs is very impressive. ‘Collide the Generations’ is like a CBGB’s punk anthem, nothing less than stunning from the man.
A self produced album with assistance from James Maddock and Larry Campbell. Top-notch musicians in the band and, a set of songs from a large collection of Cassette recordings. “The obsessions, the imagery, the things I care most about most were all on those cassettes” he says”. “I love their compression and ragged feel”.
This man has lived music for the last forty years and still progresses with each recording. We keep our fingers crossed for UK dates next year, in the meantime, just get out there and buy this record.
Garland Jeffries deserves the highest recognition music can give him … Lot’s of listeners! Live, breath this album over the next few weeks and months, you won’t regret it.
Pete
