In context to the listener's reactions to the heavy bluegrass and country music influences, he additionally stated, "We knew people would be provoked".

Amongst the anecdotes in the work was revealed that Avicii had wanted to collaborate with American icons such as: Paul Simon, Mick Jagger ("who said no"), Van Morrison ("who's representatives were vague in their answer"), while a representative from Interscope Records was unable to get in touch with Slash, Stevie Wonder or Sting regarding potential collaborations.

According to Billboard, there was little interest from the musicians: "For these contented men, whose career peaks were at least twenty years behind them, Avicii was at best an obscure Swede with a summer hit.

"[11] In April 2013, Avicii released a 60-minute promotional mix of new album material on the online audio distribution platform SoundCloud.

[9] Avicii performed at the 2013 Ultra Music Festival on 22 March 2013, revealing nearly forty minutes of new album material from True, to which he received a mixed to negative response from critics, fans and media alike.

The new material, which incorporated bluegrass and country music elements, and included live performances from Aloe Blacc, backed by a banjo and kazoo, saw a negative response at the festival, whose attendees criticized the DJ for bringing the experimental material to a high-profile electronic dance music festival.

[15][16] Dubstep/electro house musician Jake Stanczak, better known as Kill the Noise, tweeted: "What are the similarities and differences between Avicii and Al Walser?

"[17][non-primary source needed] Producer Tommie Sunshine tweeted: "I just listened to @Avicii's @ultramusic Festival Main Stage set; did he jump the #EDM shark?

"[18][non-primary source needed] However, fans and high-profile musicians were quick to support Avicii and praise his performance at the Ultra Music Festival.

"[20][non-primary source needed] On 26 March, Avicii went on Facebook to respond to the negative reaction to the Ultra Music Festival performance.

In his review of True, Sherburne said "Avicii inhabits his newfound country-pop shtick so naturally that you may wonder whether he somehow internalized Ralph Lauren's aesthetic, or whether 'going country' was part of the business plan all along...

"[44] Rolling Stone's Caryn Ganz also gave the album a positive review, complementing the diversity of the guest musicians.

In her review, Ganz said "Dan Tyminski of Union Station sings the grand Appalachian stomper "Hey Brother," and Imagine Dragons penned "Heart Upon My Sleeve."

True saves room for two funky disco jams featuring banging diva vocals from Audra Mae and Adam Lambert.

[1] However, David Jeffires of AllMusic gave the album a mixed-positive review, saying "Country music and bluegrass keep winding their way into the album, and while it rarely smacks of a gimmick, these rustic numbers often evolve into EDM around their drum machine-introducing choruses [...] In the end, it's an admirable and interesting effort where the highs offset the lows, but those with molly in hand and dancing shoes on feet should just cool their jets and get ready to sit a spell.

"[42] Blue Sullivan's review for Slant Magazine only awarded the album 0.5 out of five stars, saying that "Fans will likely write this off as churlish hatred of pop EDM, but there are other artists that are more than capable of arousing genuine dance-floor thrills [...] Moreover, these artists' best material convincingly conveys something Avicii's work rarely does: a bone-deep love of this music and a palpable desire to create art their beloved EDM ancestors would be proud of.