The True False Identity

T Bone Burnett’s brand new songs

Known both as a talented musician and as a producer T Bone Burnett has a more than 30 years of career behind his back. The debut solo album of this outstanding rock singer was released back in 1972, and later he was a part of Alpha Band for several years. At the end of the 1990s his success as a music movie producer began to grow and in 2000 he received the most prestigious awards including Grammy for the soundtrack of the Coen Brothers film O Brother Where Art Though? He also taught the actors to sing in the biographical film about Johnny Cash Walk The Line. The list of his acheivements in the movie industry is quite long. However since his last album The Criminal Under My Own Hat was released in 1992 T Bone Burnett has not recorded any full length albums. At last this year this already elderly and mature artist presents the world with a beautiful collection of brand new songs called The True False Identity, which is a most pleasant surprise both for his fanbase and those who are acquainted with his work in Hollywood. The new creation has a dark slant, at times blue and at times full of despair, with original transcriptions and amazing instrumentation.

The True False Identity – a dark powerful album

The most well heard instrument on The True False Identity is the drum for T Bone Burnett has used a remarkable diversity of percussion. The opener Zombieland with heavy bass and low-tempo rhythm given by the drum and maracas begins the record in a bit depressed manner. The tempo changes on Palestine Texas, on which the singer turns to an unusual manner having some rap elements and making the track one of the album’s standouts. The lyrics are a special advantage of the songs There Would Be Hell To Pay, a tragic story of a man and a woman, and the politically flavoured Every Time I Feel The Shift. Another sad story embodied into a beatiful tune of I’m Going On A Long Journey Never To Return touches deeply with T Bone Burnett’s vocals, especially on the chorus. He lets himself to relax a bit on the slow but still powerful composition Hollywood Mecca Of The Movies almost speaking the words and thus making this track easier to get to the listener’s mind. The deep philosophic question is put on the monumental track Blinded By The Darkness, and the closer Shaken, Rattled And Rolled slowly ends The True False Identity on a hopeless but brave note.

Complicated rhymes and smart wordplay

In spite of the somber tone of the album, The True False Identity is not a pessimist’s confessions, but a philosopher’s carefully thought and solid ideas and thus rather an enjoyable listening. The singer’s deep timbre and a marvellous bass, guitar and drums combination create a wonderfully rich sounding. Yet there is one thing that distinguishes the album among all the other rock creations – the lyrics. Filled with complicated rhymes the texts contain so many wise thoughts that it is impossible to catch all of them from the first hearing. Besides, the smart wordplay evokes most varied associations and makes one reflect on the sense. In each particular case T Bone Burnett manages to include a chain of thoughts into a creative phrase which is a sign of his keen sense of the language. Politics, crimes, state, faith and justice are the basic themes on the record turning it into a musical monography of a man who has seen and understood a lot in his life. Now he can teach us a thing or two and draw our attention to what perhaps we have never even thougt about before. The True False Identity has appeared after a 14 year hiatus and is a worthy creation of a intellectual man deeply interested in the evolution of the humanity.