Rufus Wainwright
Poses (dreamworks)
Born of artist parents, immensely talented and with one critically acclaimed album already occupying space under his belt, young Rufus must have by now overcome the low self esteem that having such a daft name no doubt gave him as a child
And he deserves to, because - as this album demonstrates frequently - he is
one of the best songwriters ever to pick up biro, fender and unemployment
cheque before knocking out a batch of great tunes. Poses is a deeply satisfying
collection of piano lead songs in glorious surround sound poperama. Operatic,
almost bombastic on occasion, yet Rufus never gets too overblown to stop the
tunes from being calm and calming.
His vocal chords reminded me on more than a few
occasions of Thom Yorke before Radiohead went all bleepy - perhaps his Pablo
Honey days but more likely The Bends. While his debut eponymous release was
a soaring work of deeply personal music, this second effort sees him collaborate
other musicians, the result being that what he loses in intimacy he makes
up for in inspired tunes. On Shadows, Alex Gifford - one half of The Propellerheads
sends a
funky dance beat chasing after a runaway flute while Rufus barks over the
top, and the title track, which suggests, "Life is a game and true love
is a trophy", has Rufus' sister Martha adding a nice line in backing
vocals. While certain media elements focus on his sexuality and lyrics (he
includes a cover of One Man Guy with the couplet" I don't know why I'm
a one man guy") be warned that this is a startlingly mature, assuredly
composed and just plain top banana album.
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