Rufus Wainwright | Giving My Ears the Love They Deserve

I’ve done a bad thing. I’ve let my love for Rufus Wainwright decompose on my bottom bookshelf, coughing under a cloud of dust bunnies. It’s been years since I’ve properly given his delightful orchestral pop albums a listen, so hearing about his new release got me all sentimental and had me squatting down to dust-bunny level for a reach back into history.

Now listening to the new album, Release the Stars, makes me wonder how I ever forgot about him. “Going to a Town”, the first single is a haunting pick, and is a controversial topic of debate on his official fan message board: is he a valiant artist or just a fiercely anti-American troublemaker? Gasp! Will this be another Dixie Chicks moment? Scandalous!

But you know what? I could frankly care less. Toss the politics out the door: this is clearly a chilling, beautiful song that comes from the gut, and it finds good company with the other gems on the album, a collection of wonderful, emotional, and theatrical pop songs. I don’t know how many singles will come from this baby, but after one listen, it’s at least got me pretty good. Don’t think I’ll be putting my heart back on the bookshelf again.

Official site: www.rufuswainwright.com/
MySpace: www.myspace.com/rufuswainwright
Last.fm: www.last.fm/music/Rufus+Wainwright
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Wainwright

Similar artists: early Elton John, early Billy Joel, Ben Folds, Sufjan Stevens, Of Montreal, Keane