First Listen: Rufus Wainwright - Release the Stars

Rufus Wainwright's fifth album, Release the Stars, is his most ambitious project to date. It is a more mature, textured album with a bigger sound than his previous endeavors, due in large part to the heavy orchestration found on most of the tracks. This is also his first attempt at self-producing, encouraged by engineer Tom Schick and helped out by acclaimed producer Marius de Vries. Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys fame is Executive Producer for the album. As always, many friends and family members help out on various tracks, including his sisters Martha Wainwright and Lucy Roche, mother Kate McGarrigle, Richard Thompson and his son, Teddy Thompson, future brother-in-law Brad Albetta, and long-time members of his backing band Joan Wasser and Jason Hart. Marius de Vries conducts the London Session Orchestra on three songs, and Neil Tennant lends his backing vocals and programming skills on numerous tracks.

Wainwright's musical influences are quite varied, ranging from the folk stylings of his parents, Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle of The McGarrigle Sisters, to opera, from show-tunes to electronica. This album is a unique blending of his far-reaching influences. It is probably not going to hold much appeal for the average American radio listener, and is not likely to enlarge his fan base, except amongst the truly eclectic music connoisseurs. The strong orchestrations and experimentation with discord and minor keys on most of the songs won't get him on the radio, and the more pop-oriented tracks with their slight 1970's feel are almost jarring in comparison to the seriousness of the majority of the songs.

"Sanssouci" is the most likable of the lighter tracks. Its pop hook and innocent feel with a lilting flute make the listener want to get up and dance. Wainwright even pokes fun at the somberness of his music with the line "I'm tired of writing elegies in general." His talent for writing solemn songs shows itself on the second track, "Going to a Town". Having come of age touring the folk music festival circuit with his parents, and being gay in America in this day and age, it is no surprise he writes protest songs. But his protest songs are layered with complex melodies and rich instrumentation, with lyrics full of reflection and meaning, as well as modern day cynicism, expressing a wish that things could be different, but since they aren't, he will go elsewhere to find the life he wants. This is definitely his best song since Want's "Go or Go Ahead", and quite possibly his best song to date.

My initial reaction to the album was that he was treading dangerously close to pretentiousness. After repeated listenings, the harsh critic in me sees the work as a bit self-indulgent, whereas the free-spirited artist in me shouts, "Bravo, Rufus!" for producing an album true to his vision, for creating the art he wanted to create. This album is only a slightly different musical path for Wainwright; the basic melodies are reminiscent of his early works. The success of his previous albums has given him the opportunity to explore different sounds and approaches, utilizing many more musicians than have previously appeared on his albums, and taking advantage of technology he has not had access to before. In this way, the album is a tremendous success. It won't gain him many new fans, and some of his old fans may not like the direction he is going. For me personally, I still find his second album, Poses, to be his best and I prefer the stripped-down sound of that album and his eponymous debut album. But I recommend this CD for all of his fans, and for anyone interested in experimentation with texture, orchestration and discord in music. All in all, Release the Stars is a very good album from an extremely talented young musician who has a passion for pushing the envelope in musical styles.