Truth Serum

Description

2013 album from the veteran singer/songwriter. Fifty years into his storied career, Garland Jeffreys is enjoying the kind of creative second wind most artists can only hope for the first time around, earning a swarm of critical accolades and experiencing his most prolific stretch in decades. Truth Serum, his second album in two years, is a cri de coeur, a stripped-down tone poem from an artist taking his rightful and hard-earned place in the musical pantheon. More than a dozen years had passed without an American album from Jeffreys when he came roaring back into the spotlight with 2011's The King of In Between. Hailed by NPR as ''as good a classic roots rock record as you're going to hear from anybody," the record - which featured an appearance by old pal Lou Reed - earned raves from The New Yorker to USA Today and led to a performance on Letterman, as well as appearances onstage with everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Levon Helm. The experience fueled a creative revitalization for the rocker, whose ebullient, late-stage creative energy colors every note of Truth Serum.