Recorded in Berlin in 2005 by
Phil Freeborn -- with more recording and mixing done by
John A. Rivers in England in early 2006 -- the 15 tracks on the
Truth Doesn't Matter are the last rock & roll testament of
Nikki Sudden, who died in March of 2006.
Sudden, who produced these tracks (they're the most polished sessions he ever played on), leaves us as a man who relished the loose yet tough approach of the early
Rolling Stones and
the Faces, and wrote songs close to the heart and bone of life. That said, it's a little unsettling to hear the synth drum accompanied by a disco bassline and an amplified harmonium that are the spine of "Seven Miles," the opening cut. With multi-tracked backing vocals by
Elisabeth Wood, and gritty electric guitars by
Sudden and
Darrel Bath, it remains a quintessential
Sudden number, but who knows whether or not it is a send-up? It's got the short lines, the chunky chords, and the tenderness in the lyrics reminiscent of his best work.