Release Date: Jun 7, 2011
Genre(s): Pop/Rock
Record label: Luna
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"I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive, not dead," sings Garland Jeffreys on his first release in 13 years. Repetitious? Sure, but it's a logical declaration since his albums are so sporadic -- this is only his third in nearly two decades -- most '80s fans have probably forgotten him entirely or, perhaps worse, think he falls into the onetime next-big-thing bucket who, despite critical praise and consistently challenging albums, never fulfilled that expectation. Jeffreys tends to focus his albums around a topic, with 1992's Don't Call Me Buckwheat geared toward race relations and 1997's Wildlife Dictionary mulling aspects of love and sex.
"I'm Alive," Garland Jeffreys repeats endlessly on the second track of The King of In Between, his first album in 13 years – perhaps for those that need reminding. A native son of New York City, Jeffreys has been making music since the late Sixties. A stint with major labels in the late Seventies and early Eighties earned the singer-songwriter a cult following, a slew of radio play, and comparisons to rock poets such as Lou Reed and Elvis Costello.