Billboard Magazine - May 13, 2006

The True False Identity

By Dan Ouelette

Fourteen years after his last release, T Bone Burnett arrives with "The True False Identity," a gripping yet comic collection of Americana songs braced with wit, heartbreak, social critique and spirituality. After prominent behind-the-scenes work as producer and soundtrack director, Burnett bursts back with his own hard-edged and softhearted tunes set in a clanky, snaky soundscape colored by his studio standbys like guitarist Marc Ribot and drummer Jim Keltner. Highlights include eerie leadoff track "Zombieland," the Stagger Lee/Delia-like, eight-bar blues-based "There Would Be Hell to Pay," the Bush-bash "Fear Country" and the indelible rocker "Baby Don't You Say You Love Me." While Burnett's tunes brim with turbulence and intrigue, the fault lines open to a deep quest for faith. As he poignantly sings in "Every Time I Feel the Shift," "When you run from truth, it comes in waves."