(Dreamworks)
\Oh Lord, what have I done to myself?"" Rufus Wainwright sings on his new album, .??The answer: After suffering a breakdown, he spent a month in rehab recovering from, presumably, an overdose of cigarettes and chocolate milk. He cut his hair.??Oh yeah, he also released a terrific new album.
Wainwright's songs, like his life, have always been a bit over-the-top.??His third album does not stray from the formula. It revels in Wainwright's grand, swelling arrangements while exposing a more reflexive, honest and tender side of the songwriter.
In the late '90s, a young Wainwright released the catchy, self-consciously shallow pop song ""Instant Pleasure.""??The refrain of that song is: ""I don't want somebody to love me / Just give me sex whenever I want it.""??The contrasting tone of underscores just how far Wainwright has come. ""Yeah, I'll settle for love"" Wainwright now sings with naked emotion on one of the album's standout tracks, ""Want.""
At first listen, the bounding, poppy ""14th Street"" instantly stands out, but Wainwright's slowly building, quieter songs are his strongest. ""Dinner At Eight,"" the album's most poignant song, is also the most autobiographical.
The song describes a meal Rufus had with his father, the acclaimed singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III-think Bob Dylan on acid-after a father and son photo shoot for Rolling Stone magazine. Bubbling from the success of his critically acclaimed debut album and from a few glasses of wine, Rufus intimated that he was completely responsible for getting his father into Rolling Stone.??The remark broke off the already tenuous relationship for a long time and Rufus went home and wrote ""Dinner At Eight.""??Wainwright's plaintive vocals and piano beautifully complement the themes of loss, re-evaluation and hope that dominate the song and album.
The only misstep of the album is the unfortunately titled and musically uninspired ""Vibrate."" Wainwright begins by singing ""My phone's on vibrate for you... / I tried to dance to Britney Spears / I guess I'm getting on in years.""??Wainwright is too clever for such banal, contemporary references.??He is at his best in his classical world, opera-obsessed, lovesick and baroque.
Drugs and aging have not dulled Wainwright's gorgeous voice, which pierces the ornate arrangements with a tenor that recalls Jeff Buckley.??Wainwright does not possess Buckley's breathtaking range, but he does have the ability to put out unique, sophisticated and assured albums that are never easily forgotten.??This One is worth settling for.
