I am a big fan of Rufus Wainwright. Wainwright makes his music sound ornate. At his best he is breathtaking: his rich baritone can soar more powerfully than the slurred lyrics, & his piano is filled with tremolo & rococo quavers without sacrificing the songs.
Wainwright seems to never be far from pretension, & after 7 albums, he is now at a point in his career where he can count on his adoring audience to accept his affectation as another part of his aesthetic, a wellspring for his talent & his extravagance. He creates magnificent, baroque, spiralling works.The duality of Wainwright’s musical muscle & his confessional manner seems to embody disgust & rejected emotions that fight it out like they were wrong notes.
Wainwright is equal parts Gershwin, Sondheim & Pet Shop Boys. His new album- All Days Are Nights was written & recorded while Wainwright’s mother, musician- Kate McGarrigle, was dying of cancer. Released just months after death, it is a somber & mournful, with a big pinch of humor. With Rufus Waunwright it is drama that I desire & it is drama I get(but not melodrama) & I am somehow enchanted:
“My mother’s in the hospital
My sister’s at the opera
I’m in love, but let’s not talk about it”
His narcissism is as much a part of his charm as his incredible voice, his piano, & his lyrical skill. I love Rufus Wainwright beacause he is beautiful, a bit doomed, & already, at 37 years old, iconic.
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